Not That Far
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: Tim is forced to take a vacation and goes to Yellowstone. He ends up with the least relaxing vacation ever. Written for the NFA On Their Own challenge. Nine chapters and an epilogue. One per day.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This story is set, more or less, at the end of season 11, although not in reference to any particular episode. It was written for the NFA On Their Own challenge.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS and I'm not making any money off this story.

* * *

><p><strong>Not That Far<br>**by Enthusiastic Fish

_All the pictures of your past are gone  
><em>_So cold, so cold  
><em>_Forget yourself  
><em>_And who you are  
><em>_Another life is not that far  
><em>_~ "See Me in Shadow" by Delain_

**Chapter 1**

"_I'm really sorry, Tim. I thought for sure this would go through! My boss told me I didn't have anything to worry about."_

Tim sighed and tried to avoid making eye contact with the others. "It's okay. I understand."

"_You should still have fun. I know that you won't be able to get any refunds."_

"Maybe I can do something about that. It seems silly for me to go by myself."

"_I'm guessing that Agent Gibbs won't go for that...and he's right, you know. I've had the time off. I was forced to, but you really haven't...and you should."_

"I wanted my time off to be with _you_," Tim said.

"_Well, it's just not going to happen this time. Send me lots of pictures, and we'll figure something out."_

"I will. I love you."

"_I love you, too."_

Tim hung up and then finally acknowledged the other people standing over his desk.

"Yes, that was Delilah. Yes, there's a problem. No, nothing is wrong with her. She's just not going to be able to come on this trip."

Tony and Ellie made semi-sympathetic faces.

"Why don't you just cancel, then?" Tony asked.

Tim hedged. "I...I didn't get anything refundable. I'd have to eat all those costs."

"You all should be working, not standing around," Gibbs said.

Tony went back to his desk and Ellie went down to check with Abby about the blood tests she was running for them. Tim stifled another sigh. He hadn't wanted this vacation anyway, but having the chance to do it with Delilah had made the annoyance worth it. Now...

"McGee, with me."

Tim looked up.

"Yes, Boss."

They walked to the elevator and got on. As Tim expected, it ground to a halt rather quickly.

"Something on your mind?"

"Boss, Delilah had to cancel. They're swamped over there right now and so...can't I just do this some other time?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Thought you said your tickets weren't refundable."

"Some of them aren't. Some are. I could probably get by with only some fines if I made my lot sound pitiful enough. I'd even try it...if you'd just let me do this later."

"When?"

Tim felt a glimmer of hope. Only a glimmer, but it was something.

"Anytime when Delilah can come. I won't fight it."

"When would that be?" Gibbs asked.

The glimmer began to fade.

"I don't know."

Gibbs shook his head.

"You need the time off, McGee."

"Everyone needs time off. We all have a lot of stress. That's the job," Tim said. "There's nothing special about me."

"Your girlfriend was caught in a bomb and was paralyzed."

"And she's fine now. She's working in Dubai! We've worked all that out."

"You were just outside at the time."

"I told you, Boss. I'm fine," Tim said, not wanting to get into that again. He'd spent enough time dealing with it already.

The eyebrow moved even higher. "And you nearly bludgeoned our suspect a couple of weeks ago because–?"

"I lost my head for a minute. It could happen to anybody."

"It didn't happen to anybody. It happened to you."

"I admitted that it was stupid of me. I shouldn't have let him get to me. ...but I _didn't_ hit him, even if he deserved worse."

"You're too tense to be doing your job, Tim. It's understandable, but you could ruin an entire investigation with one second of being stupid. What do you think would have happened if you'd given that guy what he deserved? It doesn't matter what he said or what he did. If you'd done that, it would have ruined the case _and_ your career."

Tim sighed.

"I don't care if you follow your original plans, but you're taking a vacation. I don't want to see you back until next week."

"But..."

"No, McGee! That's it. Visit your family. Go to Vegas. Do whatever. Take a break and come back next week."

"All right," Tim said, staring at the floor.

"McGee, you're not being punished here."

"Right."

"It's only a punishment if you treat it that way. This is what you need, and Vance agrees."

Tim didn't respond. There was nothing to say...at least, nothing he could say to get himself out of this.

Gibbs turned back on the elevator. When they got off, Tim walked back to his desk and avoided Tony's questioning gaze. He worked for the rest of the day and then got everything ready for his "vacation".

Tony was waiting for him outside.

"What's going on, Tim?"

"I'm going on vacation."

"Yeah...and?"

"And what?"

"Most people are happy about vacations. You don't seem to be. I have the feeling that you don't have much choice in the matter."

Tim debated whether or not he wanted to tell Tony.

"You're right," he said finally. "There's not much choice. In fact, there's none."

"Why?"

"Because of...my wanting to beat that guy senseless for what he did. Gibbs and Vance have decided that I'm too _tense_ to do my job right."

"And Gibbs wouldn't let you put it off until Delilah could come?"

"No."

"So...what are you going to do?"

"Who knows? I guess I'll go on the trip I planned originally and just do a few different things that I wouldn't have done with Delilah."

"You might have fun."

"I probably will, but I'd planned to have Delilah having fun with me."

"I'm sure she wanted to, too."

"Yeah. I think she was a little nervous about it, you know with the wheelchair, but I think she was excited, too."

"Don't have _too_ much fun. We want you to come back."

Tim laughed.

"I'm planning on coming back. I just don't think that I need this."

"Actually, you do, Tim. You _have_ been really tense, lately. Even Ellie has noticed it, and if you got her attention long enough to notice, that's pretty bad."

"I'm hardly the only person who's been tense. We all have. Why am I the one needing a break?"

"Hey, just go and have some fun and come back and make Ellie and me jealous of you."

"Yeah, right."

Tim smiled a little and went home to pack. Then, before turning in, he looked at the brochures and maps he'd gotten before. He was really disappointed that he couldn't do this with Delilah, but maybe this would give him a chance to find out exactly _what_ would really be wheelchair accessible for her. Delilah didn't like to be dependent on anyone for her mobility, but Tim was sure that there would be places in the park that she couldn't get to. Maybe he could figure out which places those would be.

Whether he liked it or not, he was headed to Yellowstone in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Two days later..._

Tim stood with the large crowds, waiting. He was surprised at how many people could fill in all the spaces where there had been almost no one just 20 minutes ago. Granted, it was pretty early in the morning, but still, Tim couldn't believe how many crowded in to see this.

_Just like me,_ he thought wryly to himself.

The first signs of the eruption began; so Tim got on his phone and called.

"Hey, Delilah," he said.

"_Tim! You're there?"_

"You want to see?"

She laughed. _"Absolutely."_

Tim raised his phone over his head and pointed it over the crowd. Then, he pulled it back down.

"Could you see anything?"

"_How much should I be seeing?"_

"Not much, yet. It was just starting."

"_Okay, then, I wasn't seeing much."_

"How are things over in your neck of the woods?"

"_Same old, same old. Clearly, you've done something different since you're watching Old Faithful."_

Suddenly, the water started going up higher and higher.

"Oh, wait, Delilah." He turned his phone around and pointed it at the geyser right as it erupted high into the air. "Wow."

He just watched for a few moments, forgetting about everything but the water shooting up nearly a hundred feet over his head.

"Wow."

Then, he remembered that he'd been talking to his girlfriend. He pulled his phone back down.

"Did you see it?"

"_Not much. I'm sure it's much more impressive in person."_

"Sorry."

Delilah laughed. _"Don't worry about it, Tim. Worth seeing?"_

"Absolutely. I don't care if I'm here already, seeing it. When you get a chance to come over here, we're coming again. You have got to see this. Now, I know why so many people are crowded around here watching it. That's amazing."

"_Okay, Tim. Next vacation, we're going back to Yellowstone. Now, go and have more fun and make me jealous."_

"I will. Love you."

"_I love you, too. Bye."_

Tim hung up and waited until the geyser was completely finished. Most of the other tourists began to drift away after it was clear that there were no other big eruptions coming. He stayed on a bench and just watched. Then, he sat there and thought about it. This was the first thing he'd seen in Yellowstone. He'd got his room in the Old Faithful Inn changed, freeing up an accessible room and he took the much more basic room that was a lot cheaper. He was lucky that it wasn't the height of the tourist season and there were empty rooms. They had been surprisingly willing to work with him and the fee he'd been charged to change the room had been nominal.

During the rest of the day, Tim went around the various parts of the main loop, checking out the accessible areas. He went to Norris and over to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. He also went up to Mammoth. It was a very long day for him with a lot of driving on twisty, turning roads, stuck behind tourists who ignored the injunction not to stop in the roadway when looking at animals. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were more accessible areas of Yellowstone than he had expected. A lot of the overlooks would easily accommodate Delilah's wheelchair and while there were a few of the geysers that were completely inaccessible, she would still be able to see some of them. By the time he dragged himself into his room at the inn, he was exhausted but pretty satisfied that Delilah could enjoy herself here. He sat down and wrote a long email to her, detailing all the parts of Yellowstone that she'd be able to see _when_ they came back. Not if. When.

All in all, he could grudgingly admit that he was having fun.

But he'd only admit it to himself. He was going to be stubborn about it because he still resented Gibbs forcing him to come on this vacation when Delilah couldn't be here. He knew he was being a little childish, but he was going to wait until he got back to say that he had a good time. So there.

He laughed a little at his attitude and pulled out his map of the park and made some little notes. Now that he'd done what he had set out to do, he figured he might as well look at doing something just for himself. Since Delilah couldn't be here, he could do something that she wouldn't be able to do. There were a lot of hikes near Yellowstone Lake. He hadn't been over there, yet, but quite a few of the hikes looked easy enough, meaning that a relatively inexperienced hiker, like himself, could manage them without difficulty. He'd make sure he had some water with him.

No problem.

It had been a long day and he was tired. He fell asleep quickly.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah smiled when she saw the long email from Tim, especially since he'd likely had to type it out on his phone. She knew he was trying hard to make sure that she could do as much as possible, but there were times when she was afraid that he was staying with her simply because he couldn't fathom breaking up with a woman in a wheelchair. Then, she remembered Tim's face when he had given her a key to his apartment. That had been one of the first times he had looked at her the same way he had before her paralysis. She really had been looking forward to this vacation. Not only did she agree that Tim was still really tense and needed the time off, she had been wanting to spend some of that time with him. It was more disappointing than she could say that she'd been forced to cancel.

"Wow. Who's the epic from?"

Delilah looked up at her partner.

"My boyfriend. He's found a whole bunch of things for us to do in Yellowstone when I go."

"That sucks that you had to stay here instead. Did you tell him about the security issues we've been having here?"

"No, are you kidding?" Delilah asked. "Tim would be way too worried. He's on vacation because his boss decided he's too tense. If he knew about this...no way. I'm going to let him enjoy his vacation. He's said that he'll call me or email me every night. There isn't a lot of Internet access out there, apparently, but he has a sat phone and he said he'd be able to get stuff to me. I _might_ tell him...later."

"So you're not worried?"

Delilah took a breath. "I'll always worry a little, but I decided I wasn't going to let it ruin my life or take over my life. That includes not letting a security threat make me afraid. I can be cautious without being scared. ...and besides, too many things are going right to focus on what _might_ go wrong."

"Good for you. Now, let's take the bad guys down."

She held out her hand and Delilah gave her a high five. Then, they got to work.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim enjoyed the views from the trails around Yellowstone Lake. This was a part of Yellowstone that didn't get nearly as much press as Old Faithful or the other geysers, but Tim appreciated how different it was from the more seismically-active parts of the park.

The trail went back into the trees. Tim smiled with satisfaction. Today was turning out just as good as he'd hoped. He figured that he could go on back, take a break and then go on another short hike in the same area. It was perfect.

Suddenly, he heard voices. He had seen almost no one on these trails, today. It was a little cloudy. It could rain later on...with the cooler temperatures up here, it could even snow, he supposed. It made him wonder who else was hiking in the off-season, away from the more popular places.

"Look, I'm not fooling around here. You pay me what you owe me or you'll be the next tragic victim to die in the park. We'll just throw your body in a geyser."

Tim's eyes widened. These were _not_ hikers.

"I told you! I have it!"

"Then, hand it over."

"Not here."

"Why not here? You knew when the meeting was. You're running out of time. We had a deal. I give you the supply, you give me the money. I don't get my money and I take it out of your hide."

Tim knew that he was in no position to confront these people. He needed to find a ranger or some law enforcement. He also knew that it would be hard to move quietly with all the sticks and rocks on the uneven trail.

_I have to try. I can't just sit here and wait and hope they don't see me...or wait for them to commit murder._

He took a step and then another. So far, so good. He just needed to get far enough away that he could start running. If he could do that, they'd be hard-pressed to catch up.

A few more steps and he chanced a look back.

Big mistake. He should have known not to look back. Nothing good ever came from looking back.

He turned just in time to see the fist coming at him.

Stars exploded in his vision and things went black.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

There were three men in the clearing when the fourth dragged Tim over. He wasn't _quite_ unconscious, but he was clearly out of it.

"Who is this?"

"He was out on the trail."

"What?"

"It wasn't me! I didn't tell anyone!"

"He could just be a hiker."

"Find out."

The one who'd caught him knelt down and searched through his pockets. He pulled out his phone and his wallet.

"Fancy phone. Timothy McGee. From DC." He looked up. "He's a cop. A Navy cop."

"What's a Navy cop doing in the middle of Yellowstone?"

"I don't know. You wanna ask him?" He pulled out a gun.

"We can't just kill a cop! That's asking for way more trouble than I want."

"Then, what are we going to do? We can't just leave him here! He must have heard us. He was sneaking around. Maybe he saw us, too!"

The three of them looked at each other. Then...

"Bring him around. We'll take him with us and decide what to do when we figure everything else out. Worse comes to worst, we'll kill him and dump his body someplace where no one will find him."

He knelt down and splashed water on Tim's face. Tim choked and sputtered and then, his eyes opened. He clearly knew he was in trouble as soon as his mind re-engaged.

"So...fed. What were you doing listening in?"

"I...I'm on vacation."

"Right. Well, I hope you're ready for a long hike."

"Why?"

"Because either you come with us or we kill you now. What's your choice?"

Tim looked around, knew he was outnumbered.

"I guess...I'll come with you."

"Get up."

Tim struggled to his feet. He was clearly a little off balance, but there was something a slightly impressive in the way he refused to cower in the face of his situation.

"Hands over your head."

He followed instructions.

"Search him."

The search was very thorough, and nothing came out of it. It seemed as though he might be exactly what he'd said: a man on a vacation. They weren't taking any chances, though. He looked at Tim's phone, checking previous calls, noting that none had been made recently.

"I hope you're not too attached to your phone."

Tim said nothing...not even when he took it and smashed it to bits.

"Good. Let's go."

He gestured and the guns came out. Tim looked at them.

"You know...firearms aren't allowed in Yellowstone. It's against federal law."

One of the others jabbed him in the back.

"Stop being smart. Start walking."

Reluctantly, Tim started walking. The only one in as bad a situation was the buyer who had no money. They'd get down to why he didn't have the money with him right now...and he didn't take risks that didn't pan out.

All in all, this wasn't going as well as he'd hoped, and if it got any worse, he'd make sure those two fared worse then he did.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tim decided that, if there was any way his vacation could have taken a worse turn, he couldn't think of it.

_Just my luck to walk in on an illegal deal of some kind. And Gibbs thought I needed to have a vacation to relax. Hah. I'd have been better off in DC in a gunfight. At least then, I'd be armed...and have backup._

They had left the marked trail over an hour ago and were tromping through the forest with no guide at all. Tim wondered why. In fact, there were a lot of things he was wondering. Why were they meeting in Yellowstone of all places? Why had they chosen the wilderness to do their deal?

And why, oh why, had _he_ been the one to find them?

And how was he going to get out of this alive?

Right now, he was playing it by ear. No sense in giving them a reason to worry more about him than they already had. He had picked out the guy in charge...and the one who was most definitely _not_ in charge. The other two were completely competent, but they weren't calling the shots. The one who was _not_ in charge was extremely twitchy. Tim couldn't help wondering, in addition to his other questions, why this little weasel had thought he could play hardball with someone clearly more experienced and ruthless than he was.

...oh, and another question popped into his mind, followed by others.

When would they stop and would they give him something to drink?

_Will Delilah start to worry when I don't call tonight? That would be nice if she did. She might call someone._

They walked and walked until long after the sun set. Then, they pushed Tim to a tree and tied him to it.

"You'd better hope we all stay alive if you want to keep the bears away, fed."

That was a terrible thought.

"Well, if I'm tied to the tree, I can't do much to change anything."

"That's why you'd better hope we stay alive."

Tim sighed and said nothing else. They did give him some water to drink, but nothing to eat and his stomach was growling. He tried to find a semi-comfortable position and tried not to think about bugs crawling into his pants or bears or wolves thinking he'd make a nice hors d'oeuvre. All in all, he was _not_ happy, but he closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. Better to be rested and ready for what might happen than to be exhausted and unable to run should the opportunity arise.

After about an hour, he really was nodding off when he heard low voices.

"Tomorrow, you and I are going to take our little friend back to West Yellowstone. He's going to give me the money he owes."

"Then, what? He might be a bigger weight than we want to carry."

The voices dropped too low for Tim to hear for a few seconds.

"...and then we can dump him. It's not like anyone ever checks the cars when people come in here. We'll go to..."

Tim strained to hear, but they were speaking too softly. Once or twice, he thought he heard something about "the fed" but he couldn't understand them. He didn't delude himself that things would go well for him, but they did seem reluctant to kill a cop for nothing. Probably, he'd end up being a hostage for a while and then, when he wasn't useful any longer, they'd kill him off and dump his body along the highway somewhere.

_So, I'd better not let that happen._

The biggest problem he could see right now was that he had no idea where he was. He guessed they were still near the lake somewhere, but they'd walked the entire day and Tim had not been able to keep track of the direction with all the trees. They'd walked in the open a few times, places where the scars from the big fires in '88 hadn't yet healed, but they weren't following a trail. They went up and down and up and up and down, across a river and over a couple of creeks. Tim was completely turned around.

"...the Thorofare, meet up with... and get out."

"Sounds good. I'll take the first watch."

"Wake me up in four hours."

"Got it."

There was some shuffling and then, it was quiet. No fire, just the tents...and Tim tied to a tree. The longer it stayed dark, the colder it got. Tim wasn't happy about that, either.

It was a long night.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah looked at her phone and was disappointed. No messages. No texts. No calls. Could Tim be having _that_ much fun in Yellowstone? She smiled a little at the thought. Tim was competent in the wilderness, but he enjoyed himself a lot more indoors than out. Still, she did want to hear about what he'd been doing. There was nothing that said she had to wait for him to call.

Grinning to herself, Delilah dialed and was surprised when it went instantly to voice mail instead of ringing.

"Something wrong?"

Delilah looked over and furrowed her brow.

"No. Tim just didn't answer his phone. It didn't even ring. I'll just leave him a message."

The voice mail beeped.

"Hey, Tim. It's Delilah. I was waiting for you to make me jealous again with all the fun things you're doing. Give me a call when you can."

She hung up.

"You worried?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

Delilah looked at her phone again.

"Maybe...a little. Tim's not the best outdoorsman, you know. ...but he's fine. He probably just was tired and forgot to call. Or his phone stopped working. He forgot to charge it or something."

"Keep talking. Maybe you'll convince yourself."

Delilah smiled. "Hush. We've got a lot to do today. Tim can wait."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Ellie watched as Tony looked at his phone and seemed a little bothered.

"What's up, Tony? Hot date turn you down?"

Tony looked at her and then down at his phone again. The fact that he hadn't answered right back in the same sarcastic fashion made her wonder. She got up and walked over to his desk.

"What's going on?"

"McGee's phone is off. Or it's not working or something."

"He's in the middle of a national park...in the mountains...in a forest," Ellie said. "Phones don't always work up there."

"He has a sat phone. He splurged on it last year. He should have coverage there."

"He was a little miffed about going without Delilah. Maybe he's just unplugging."

"I don't know. I tried calling him yesterday and got nothing. I tried just now. Still nothing."

Ellie wasn't sure if she should be worried or not. She was still getting to know them, but she knew enough to know that Tony didn't get worried like this for nothing. Or at least, he didn't _show_ that he got worried like this for nothing.

"What do you want to do?"

Tony looked at Tim's desk, down at his phone and then up at Ellie.

"Nothing. It's probably nothing, and I'm not going to be a mother hen and force him to talk to us here if he doesn't want to. Maybe I'll see if I can get a hold of Delilah tonight. See if she's heard from him."

"Maybe you can get to work and stop prying, DiNozzo," Gibbs said shortly.

Tony grinned at Ellie as she hurried back to her desk.

"I can't stop prying, Boss. I'd lose all my hobbies!"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and then walked over to Tony and said something too softly for Ellie to hear. She couldn't see Tony's reaction to whatever Gibbs said, but then, Gibbs strode back to his desk, back to business. Tony was also back to business. Ellie could see what she needed to do.

Get back to work.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim woke up for the last time when he heard people moving around. He had slept off and on during the night. He was cold. He'd heard things rustling in the trees. He didn't know if it was wind, owls or prowling bears, but he didn't like it and it kept him on edge. So he was still pretty tired.

"Wake up, fed."

Tim opened his eyes. "Already awake. Not the most comfortable place to sleep."

The one in charge didn't respond to the sarcasm. He walked over, pulled out a knife. Tim tensed slightly but said nothing. The man cut the rope tying Tim to the tree and binding his hands.

"Don't get any ideas. You're worth keeping alive, for now, but I'm fine with cutting away the dross early if necessary."

"So what can I expect?"

"For now? You can expect to eat, but don't expect much."

"I don't."

The man tossed him a bag of trail mix, some jerky and then, some water. Tim ate quickly, not bothering to pretend he wasn't hungry. He needed whatever he could get. He did notice that the twitchy guy was still twitchy. He probably would have made a run for it if he could have got away. Tim didn't know what the man was supposedly buying, but it was clearly illegal.

The man looked at him for a long moment while the tents were coming down. Tim stared back with a raised eyebrow. He had no sympathy for the man.

"All right, Lancer. You're going to take us to your hotel. You're going to give me my money. No delays."

"I'll go get it!"

"Yeah, and then, you'll find the closest cop and tell them everything. I don't think so."

"What about the fed?"

The man in charge smiled. "He's not coming with us. Brady and he will get nice and cozy out here, waiting."

Tim looked sideways at Brady. He wasn't the one the man in charge had been talking to during the night. He looked very sure of himself...and maybe he had reason to be.

After the gear was packed up, they started walking again. Tim still didn't know where he was, but he kept his eyes peeled for any chance to get away.

They walked for a couple of hours. Tim was getting tired again when they stopped suddenly.

"Sit," Brady said to him.

Tim was happy to obey. His feet were getting sore. He watched as the man in charge took his henchman and the twitchy man, Lancer, and headed off into the forest. Tim watched them go and looked back at Brady.

"Don't even think of getting cute, fed. You give me trouble, I kill you." Instead of a gun, he brandished a mean-looking knife...and the way he held it showed that he knew how to use it. This was no idle threat.

"Good to know," Tim said.

_I won't get cute. I'll just get free._

Hours passed, and Tim just sat where he was. Brady got a little antsy. He was clearly used to _doing_ things, not just waiting. He started pacing.

Tim smiled to himself. There was a weakness...besides the fact that they hadn't tied him up again.

The pacing gradually brought Brady closer to where Tim was sitting. He didn't want to jump the gun. He'd only get one chance at this.

_Tony would be better at it,_ Tim thought to himself.

Well, Tony wasn't here. Tim had no backup and it was time to get away.

Brady's pacing brought him close enough. Tim lashed out with his legs, tripping Brady up. He fell hard.

He had quick reactions, but Tim had been waiting for this and he wasn't underestimating his enemy. The rock he'd found was secure in his hand and he launched himself at Brady before he could get back to his feet. Then, he swung the rock as hard as he could at Brady's head. Brady dropped like a proverbial stone, bleeding from the head.

Tim felt a momentary pang about leaving him there, unconscious in the middle of the woods...but only a momentary one. He had to get out of here, and he couldn't stick around to help someone who would was willing to kill him. Instead, he grabbed Brady's pack and his knife, hoping there was food and water in the pack. Then, he ran out of the clearing, into the forest.

He had no idea where he was or where he was going, but that wasn't the important thing at the moment. The important thing was that he was going _away_.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony stayed up late so that he could call Delilah and hope that she wouldn't be asleep. He didn't think of her as a late sleeper, but he couldn't honestly say he was aware of her daily schedule.

He dialed her number.

She answered on the first ring.

"_Tim?"_

"Uh...no, it's Tony."

"_Tony? DiNozzo? Why are you calling me?"_

"I was hoping you'd heard from Tim."

"_Not for two days, now. Actually, I was getting a little worried about it...but I don't know if I should be. It's just that he was calling or emailing me every day and then...I can't even get his phone to ring."_

That didn't make Tony feel any better. In fact, he felt a lot worse. Tim wouldn't _not_ call if he'd planned on doing so.

"_Tony? Should I be worried?"_

"Uh...I don't know."

"_You were worried. Otherwise, you wouldn't have called me."_

"I don't know if I need to be but..."

"_If I expected Tim to call, it's because he should be calling. Right? Tim's too...punctual. Too reliable."_

Tony laughed a little.

"Not exactly how I would have put it, but yeah."

"_I'm so far away...and I know you're not close, either. I'm not used to being the one worrying. Tim's always been the one worrying about me...and driving me crazy with it."_

"Yeah."

"_What do we do, Tony? If Tim isn't answering just because he's not answering, that's one thing, but what if something is wrong?"_

"We'll figure something out. Would it help if I said that you shouldn't worry?"

"_No. Not really. Not at all, actually."_

"Okay. Then, I won't say it, but I will say that we'll figure something out. If he calls you, call us, okay?"

"_I will, and if you find anything out, call me. I don't care what time it is."_

"Got it."

"_Thanks, Tony. ...and thanks for calling. I feel better knowing I'm not the only one who's worried."_

"You're welcome."

Tony hung up and sat back. This wasn't looking good. He decided to call Gibbs.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The sun was going down and Tim had no idea where he was. All he knew was that he'd managed to get away from the people coming after him.

The question now was if he should try to keep going through the night when he had no idea where he was going or if he should stop and try to find a secure place to sleep.

He looked around didn't really see anything promising, but he was starting to feel really tired and thirsty and hungry. He'd hoped to get to a place where he could see the sun, but he was stuck in the forest...and he was worried about being out of cover of the trees. They kept him from seeing anything, but they also kept people from seeing him.

Finally, he decided that he needed to find a place to sleep. He wouldn't make it through the night awake. So he found a large poky bush. When he searched through the pack, there wasn't much in it. Some food. Thank goodness, but he'd have to be careful. He remembered the whole "Be bear aware" thing from the brochure they'd given him when he'd come into the park. He ate some more trail mix and drank some water and then pulled out a thin blanket. He wrapped it around himself and burrowed into the bush, pulling the pack with him. In the middle of the bush, he figured he was as safe as he could expect to be without a fire, a gun or anything else.

He tried to sleep...while at the same time listening for someone coming after him.

It was another long night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Tim came awake suddenly.

Something very big was walking around near his bush.

...and it wasn't a person.

There was just enough light to tell him that sunrise was near. Maybe the sun was up but it hadn't filtered in through the trees yet. Tim stayed quiet as the big thing continued to move around. Then, he heard something snuffling at the bush. He shifted his head just enough to see what it was.

That was a big nose.

It pushed further into the bush and Tim tried to pull away. He could see, now, just what this was. A bear. A big bear. A _really_ big bear. He swallowed hard and tried not to move.

_There's a bear...and he smells me. Go away, bear. Go away. I'm not interesting at all. I don't taste good. I'm not worth it. Just move on._

Tim was terrified. Sure, he had the knife he'd taken off Brady, but he was pretty sure it would do him no good against a bear, particularly not one of this size. Was this a grizzly bear? He'd never actually seen one close to, but this was one _big_ bear.

Suddenly, the bear's face was only a foot or two away from him. Tim could see the bear's eyes. His heart started thudding against his chest as he prayed that the bear would move on.

For far too long, the bear just sat there, breathing on him. Then, finally, after an eternity, the bear let out a noisy, smelly exhalation and pulled his face out of the bush. There were some snuffling sounds and then it moved on.

_Thank you, God. Thank you,_ Tim thought. Still, he didn't move for a long time, making sure that the bear was really gone.

His heart was beating so quickly that he couldn't believe that it wasn't audible to the entire park. He tried to keep his breathing quiet.

"You're okay, Tim. You're fine. Nothing to worry about. The bear is gone. Just relax."

Still, when he finally crawled out of the bush, he was shaking. His first real encounter with Yellowstone wildlife. He was pretty sure that the bear had known he was in there and had simply been uninterested in getting pokies in his face to investigate more closely.

Thank goodness the bush had no berries on it. Tim hadn't thought of that.

Then, he felt something under his shirt. He pulled it off quickly and saw a number of bugs crawling around on his chest. He made an undignified sound and began brushing them off as fast as he possibly could. It didn't help his heart rate in the slightest.

Then, he shivered. He checked his shirt for more unwelcome denizens and then put it back on. Yuck. Gross. He wasn't afraid of bugs, but having them crawling all over him wasn't pleasant at all. He let out a loud whoosh of air and refocused on other things. Carefully, he opened the pack and did a more thorough check of what he had.

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what he'd hoped.

There were a couple of boxes of granola bars, a sealed package of jerky...and only one bottle of water. It was a fairly large bottle, but not big enough to get him through a full day of walking.

"Well, maybe I won't be walking all day. Maybe I'll find my way to a trail and I'll find someone who isn't trying to kill me. That would be nice."

Knowing his luck, though, Tim figured he didn't have much chance of that. He was more likely to run into the people who were surely coming after him than a kindly hiker or a park ranger.

"Am I even still _in_ the park?" Tim asked himself.

He really had no way of knowing. No way of telling just how far they'd walked after capturing him and he didn't know what direction he'd gone after escaping. Oh, well. He couldn't worry about that. He needed to worry about getting away from the people likely wanting to kill him.

One last shiver and he repacked the backpack and started walking. He had a thought that if he could get up to a higher vantage point, he might be able to figure out a direction to head. That meant finding a mountain. ...and maybe if he found a mountain, he'd find people who could help him.

"Right."

He kept walking.

The trees were nice and all, but it was really frustrating to have no idea where he was going. He really wished that he could figure out which direction he should go.

After what felt like a couple of hours, he was relieved to find a meadow or something of that nature. An open space with no trees, anyway. He ran to it and looked up.

...and then, finally realized why it had never seemed very bright.

Clouds.

"Really?" he said to the sky. "Really?"

These weren't thin clouds that allowed one to see the sun. They were thick, dark clouds...maybe heralding a storm.

"Great."

Well, staying out in the open wasn't going to help him, and he remembered the safety tips from when he'd been in scouts. If there was a chance of a storm, it was stupid to go to high ground. Of course, he'd been taught to stay where he was so that he could be found more easily...but fat chance of that happening with a bunch of guys after him. Tim decided that he'd better try to make his way away from here. It wouldn't be a good idea to stay in one place for too long.

He started walking again. Things weren't great, but they weren't too bad. He could handle this.

Famous last words.

He took a wrong step.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah stared at her computer screen without seeing a thing. While it was nice to know that other people were worrying about Tim, too, it also made it more obvious that this could be really serious.

"Delilah."

What if Tim was really hurt out there? What if he'd fallen into a geyser or something ridiculous like that? What if he'd got in an accident while driving around the park?

"Delilah!"

She jumped and looked up.

"What is it, Lauren?"

Lauren handed her a sheet of paper. Delilah looked at it.

A ticket to fly to Bozeman. She looked back up.

"Lauren..."

"Don't start protesting. I've already paid for the tickets. You have time to go home and pack. If there's nothing wrong with him, you can reimburse me." She smiled.

"Thanks, Lauren. I don't know what to say."

"You can say that you owe me big time and go catch your plane so that I haven't wasted my money."

Delilah grabbed Lauren's hand and squeezed it tightly before heading out of the building as fast as her wheelchair could take her.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim let out a string of swear words that would have made Tony proud. Then, he grimaced and looked at his leg...or rather, his ankle. One wrong step and he had ended up falling into a creek. So now, he was muddy and wet and even more dirty than he had been...and worse, his ankle ached like there was no tomorrow.

He massaged it a few times, hoping that it wasn't broken, that he'd just wrenched it and it would feel better after a few minutes.

"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" he said through gritted teeth.

Of all the things that could make his situation worse, an injury was close to the top of the list.

"Is it broken?" he asked himself.

He wouldn't really know for sure unless he tried to put some weight on it. It hurt. He knew that much. Probably the best he could hope for was a bad sprain. He clenched his teeth and crawled out of the creek, back up onto the bank. He shivered a little in the breeze that had come up.

"Okay. I need to see if I can walk on this."

He knew it would hurt, but it was a matter of how much it would hurt.

He took a breath, got to his knees and then, pressed his left foot into the ground and stood. He leaned a little against a nearby tree and chanced putting some weight on his right foot.

It hurt like the dickens, but it wasn't broken. Cold comfort, but it was better than nothing. He would be in big trouble if his pursuers caught up with him. He wasn't running.

"Okay."

The breeze increased to a wind.

"No. No. No." Tim looked up through the trees, trying to find the sky. It was getting darker. "No rain. Please, no rain."

The wind continued to strengthen and there was a definite chill in the air...which didn't help Tim feel any warmer after landing in the creek. Instead of trying to keep moving, he decided to try to find someplace that would offer protection from the rain that looked to be coming.

Limping heavily, he started walking, much more slowly than he had been before. Each step hurt, but he persisted. It was probably still daytime, but it was getting darker as the clouds thickened. He'd read that storms could come up suddenly in Yellowstone. It looked as though it wasn't an exaggeration. This time, he wasn't looking for a clearing. He was looking for a good bush or an overhang or a cave...or a person who would take him to a cabin. That would be nice.

The first raindrops began to fall only a few minutes later. The wind was now whipping the trees around. That could be dangerous. Tim looked around for someplace safe and moderately protected.

He saw a bush? A tree? He wasn't sure, but the leaves looked like maple leaves. There were a lot of branches growing together. He thought he might be able to get some protection there. So he made his slow, painful way over to the tree/bush. He pushed his way in among the leaves as the rain began in earnest. He searched through the pack again and came up with an emergency rain poncho. Perfect. He spread the poncho up over his head, bracing it on the branches. Then, he pulled the thin blanket out and wrapped himself up in it as the rain and wind continued. He dug out a couple more granola bars and then, he realized that he would be out of water if he took one more swallow.

But there was all this water falling from the sky...and he was catching quite a bit of it on the poncho.

Carefully, he rearranged the poncho to funnel the water into the bottle. It worked pretty well if Tim said so himself. All in all, while he was miserable, aching, wet, in danger and alone, he wasn't too bad off at the moment. He had managed to keep the worst of the rain off him. He was starting to feel a little warmer than he had been. He'd eaten and his supply of water was slowly being replenished.

...and it was unlikely that those pursuing him would push on through the storm. They struck him as pretty practical. He'd be surprised if the man they had been dealing with was still alive. He was a danger and as long as they got their money, he was also extraneous. Tim himself would be killed if they could find him, and they'd try because he was a witness and he could identify them, but they also knew he was outnumbered and so it made more sense that they would take their time and do it right.

Tim just hoped that they hadn't been able to track him. He hadn't noticed any real tracking skills in the group, but that didn't mean they didn't have them. The rain would help obscure his path if they had been trying to follow him.

He shifted around and tried to get comfortable...or at least _semi_-comfortable. His ankle was still throbbing and he tried to get it into a position where it would hurt less. Really, he needed to elevate it, but there wasn't space in there to do anything like that. He'd rather stay dry than elevate his ankle.

After a while, he started to relax a little bit. His water bottle was almost full. He took a quick drink and then set it up again.

Tim tried to flex his ankle a little. It still hurt.

So he leaned back against the branches and looked up at the poncho, at the water pooling up in it and then running down into his bottle.

_How am I going to get out of this?_

That was the big question because there was no way he could keep this up, especially not with his ankle. So he had to make some kind of plan...and unfortunately, that plan couldn't really involve staying right here where he was. He wasn't on a trail. No one knew where he was. Someone was probably trying to find him, and not good people. Even if he could hunker down somewhere and wait, this would not be the place for it.

If the storm ended and the clouds went away during the night, Tim figured that he could at least figure out directions. In terms of finding someone who might have his best interests at heart, north was probably his best bet. In order to get north of the lake, they would have had to walk a long way east or west first since they hadn't seen anyone. That meant he was probably still south of the lake. Heading north would eventually get him to a road or something like that. It would be a slow trek if his ankle didn't feel any better, but it was better than waiting to be found by people who _didn't_ have his best interests at heart.

He started feeling drowsy and his eyes closed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Delilah said that we should probably be getting to Bozeman at about the same time, Boss," Tony said. "She called the Ranger Headquarters in Mammoth and let them know that we're coming. They're going to start checking around to see if they can find any sign of him."

Gibbs nodded.

They were still at the point where they could be overreacting, but his gut said that something was wrong. Tim was in trouble. Everyone knew it, even while they were admitting that they could be wrong about it. If Tim was fine, he was going to be raked over the coals for worrying everyone. If he was in trouble, they'd never forgive themselves if they didn't do something about it.

They were landing in Bozeman, the last flight of the day, near midnight.

"I've never been to Montana before," Ellie said.

"Me, neither," Tony said. "I'll call Delilah, Boss."

Gibbs nodded. He was still thinking about how they'd proceed, given that they didn't know where Tim had planned on going. They would have to start with where he'd been staying. Maybe he had something in his room that would tell them what his plans had been...if he'd had any.

_Would Tim really do something completely spontaneous?_ Gibbs wondered. Certainly, Tim rarely showed that kind of abandon. That was more Tony's arena. Still, how often was Tim completely on his own, able to do whatever he wanted? Maybe he was willing to throw caution to the winds when he didn't have an audience.

"She's by the baggage claim," Tony said.

They walked over and saw Delilah, sitting in her chair, looking worried.

"Delilah!" Ellie called out.

She looked over at them and smiled as they approached.

"You have no idea how frustrating it is that I have to sit here and wait," she said. "I've been here for an hour and people keep staring at me." She shook her head. "We're about an hour and a half from Yellowstone. There's nothing we can do until tomorrow. There are hotels around here. Some of them even have accessible rooms. I hate having to wait."

Ellie hesitated for a moment.

"Uh...do you want to go?"

"Yes."

Delilah began to roll herself toward the exit. She was clearly stressed. She'd been flying for a full day, and getting around in a wheelchair still frustrated her, but Gibbs knew that she wanted to be able to focus on doing something to get rid of her frustration. But they couldn't do anything until the morning.

They got the rental car and headed for a hotel.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim shivered violently and woke himself up. It was _cold_. He shifted position. The rain had stopped. The clouds were gone and the stars sparkled overhead. He couldn't see many of them, but he could see that they were there. He grabbed his bottle before he knocked it over and put the lid on it. No more rain tonight.

But it was so cold. He wasn't sure he could stay where he was through the night. Maybe it would be a good idea to move.

...but then, he remembered the bear he'd encountered just that morning. He wasn't sure he wanted to come face to face with a bear without some protection.

"Okay, Tim. It's cold, but it's not safe to walk around at night. What are you going to do?"

Tim took his time to think. Then, he looked at the tree or bush he was in. He remembered all the survival tips he'd learned, the things he'd never thought he would need to use because he wasn't going to go camping unless he was very near civilization.

Leaves and branches could be great insulators and give him protection from the cold. Now that it was no longer raining, he reached up and moved the poncho. He would use it again, but right now, what he wanted to do was get some better insulation. He began stripping the leaves off the branches near him, moving as little as possible so that he didn't disturb his ankle. He stuffed the leaves into his shirt and the sleeves of his light jacket. It was itchy, but it would help. Then, he pulled out the knife he'd taken from Brady and began cutting branches. He would have to stand up to get them beneath him, to boost him off the ground which was cold. That would mean moving.

_I can get up and maybe find the North Star while I'm doing that._

Decision made, Tim forced himself to stand, groaning a little as his sprained ankle protested the movement. He moved out of the bush and found a small clearing. Just enough that he could see some stars. He looked around and tried to orient himself. There were so _many_ stars in his view that he wasn't sure he would recognize any constellations.

"Wow," he said softly. "Beautiful."

For a while, he just stared up at the sky, wishing that he could see more of it. He'd never seen so many stars at once, not ever. Not once. He'd never seen a completely dark sky where the only light was from stars. The sky was full of stars.

"Wow," he said again.

Then, he shivered again and that got him back on track. He looked around and found the Big Dipper. He followed the end stars in the cup to Polaris. North. He knew that he'd never remember which way he'd been facing in the morning. So he knelt down with a groan and made an arrow in the mud. He gouged it as deep into the ground as he could. Then, it was a slow, halting trek back to his bush. He arranged the branches on the side away from the cold breeze he could feel. He cut more branches and got himself off the ground. Then, he rewrapped the blanket around his now-bulky jacket and shirt, moving it up around his head. Then, he curled into as small a ball as he could to conserve his heat. He dug into the pack and pulled out a granola bar. He started to eat it to get his body burning it for energy.

He wasn't sure if he should sleep or not, but for the moment, he was way too uncomfortable to sleep. He lay where he was and let his mind wander. He just couldn't bring himself to worry about his pursuers at the moment. His ankle hurt. He was still a little cold. He had stuffed his clothes with leaves that were scratchy and uncomfortable. All in all, he was happy to let his mind go elsewhere.

To his surprise, where his mind landed was on a decision he'd made more than a year ago. The decision to pass up on a promotion and move to Japan.

Had it been the right decision? Did it matter right now? Maybe not, but Tim couldn't help but think about it. His decision to stay in DC on Gibbs' team had led to where he was now...at least obliquely. He would never have met Delilah if he had taken the promotion. He wouldn't have met her. He wouldn't have dated her, fallen in love...and he wouldn't have been there when she was paralyzed.

He worried about her, still. It was something he had to come to terms with, although he'd done a lot better on that score.

...of course, Delilah being in Dubai could have something to do with it. It was hard to worry about someone if they were in another country. ...or at least, it was hard to worry so directly. He could worry silently because he would have to exert quite a bit of effort to make his worry known to her.

His mind flitted back to the promotion he'd passed up. Delilah had been surprised when he'd told her about that. In fact, she had gone so far as to say that he'd made a mistake in giving up something that would have been so good for his career. It had taken a lot of convincing for her to accept that he was happy where he was.

But then, he sometimes wondered because no one had ever acted as though they were interested in it, bothered by the fact that he'd be gone. It had been hard to have that be everyone's reaction to what he saw as a very difficult decision. Gibbs hadn't even known about it. It had even made him question whether or not he belonged where he was. In the end, though, he had stayed. Stayed where it was comfortable, where things made sense. Sometimes, he wondered if it had been a mistake. He didn't feel like he could ask anyone because no one had cared.

Now, sitting in a tree or bush or whatever, his clothes filled with scratchy leaves, his ankle aching, he couldn't help but think about what he had chosen again. No one was here to care. He figured it would still be another day before Delilah was worried enough to ask people to look for him. She might have worried a little bit, but he didn't think she'd go any further than that until she hadn't heard from him for a few days. It had only been...two? Now, he wasn't sure. Regardless, Delilah was a lot more practical about this kind of thing than he was. That was why they had struggled when she'd been paralyzed. He wanted to worry and help and be there and she just wanted him to give her the time to adjust and do things on her own. So she likely wouldn't really worry enough to get people looking for him until a while later...maybe just now?

His mind wandered again.

_If I get back, do I want to change things?_

Perhaps it was silly to think about this kind of thing while his life could be on the line, but Tim couldn't help but wonder. Besides, if he thought about what he'd do when he got back, it got his mind off the possibility that he wouldn't get back at all.

So...did he want things to change? And if he did, what did he want to change?

His job?

This was actually the hardest thing for him to think about. He loved being on Gibbs' team. He loved having a place he felt needed (most of the time) and valued (most of the time).

...but, sometimes, he felt like he was marking time, like he wasn't doing anything to get better, to improve. That felt wrong, too. He should be trying to get further, to be more than he was. It wasn't right to accept things as they were without trying to improve. No matter how good they were, they could be better.

He didn't come to any real conclusions before he started to relax enough to fall asleep again. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about home.

...and what came to mind was NCIS. He laughed a little to himself. Yep, that was it right there. He loved his family. He liked where he lived. He was happy with Delilah and yet, he had a place he really belonged with NCIS. That was why he didn't want to give it up.

Slowly, painfully, he curled into a tighter ball and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah was waiting for them in the lobby in the morning. She was impatient to get going to Mammoth. Gibbs could see it, but he didn't comment. He just got them going as quickly as possible. They had almost two hours of driving to get down to Yellowstone.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim woke up for the twentieth time and noticed that there was light. That meant he had the chance to get up and start moving.

"Oh, joy," he muttered.

More importantly, he'd survived the night and he could now get rid of those itchy, scratchy leaves.

He pulled himself out of his protected space and groaned as his ankle made itself known once again. It felt swollen now, but Tim couldn't do anything about that. He emptied the leaves out of his shirt and jacket and then folded the blanket and poncho and stowed them in the pack.

Then, it was time to start walking, or rather limping. He took a few steps toward the clearing where he'd marked north and then leaned against a tree to rest his ankle. It was a bad sprain. It wasn't getting better anytime soon. He looked around and had a thought. There were branches all over. He could find one to lean on. It just had to be big enough.

He spent some time searching and found a good-sized stick. It wasn't too heavy, but it would bear his weight, at least enough for him to be able to walk a little better. He would leave a trail, but that couldn't be helped.

Then, he found the arrow he'd drawn. He tried to obliterate it, but some traces remained.

Tim marked his direction, took a breath and started to limp northward.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The ranger knocked on the door and waited for a moment and then unlocked it. Delilah managed not to urge him to move more quickly. She rolled behind him as they all went into the room. She smiled a little. Tim had told her that he'd taken a much smaller room instead of the accessible one he'd reserved. He'd gone very basic.

"He'd bought some souvenirs," Ellie said, holding up the small bags that were sitting on Tim's suitcase.

"Hey, here's a map of the park!" Tony said. He picked it up and looked at it.

"Anything useful?" Delilah asked.

Tony sighed. "No. He'd been looking at it...since he folded it up wrong, but he didn't mark anything on it."

Delilah took it from him and looked. Then, she looked again.

"Actually, there is something here, Tony."

"What?"

Delilah smiled and pointed to a couple of the geysers.

"He marked the ones that I could go to. He told me about them."

The ranger took the map from her and looked over it.

"He was thorough."

"That's Tim."

All business, the ranger scanned the map.

"Would your friend go off hiking? Without being prepared for it?"

"No."

That rejection came from everyone in the room. Delilah smiled as the ranger looked up at them in surprise.

"Tim...over prepares for things," Delilah said. "He's not the kind of person who would randomly wander into the backcountry without being ready for it."

"And McGee isn't really known for being an outdoorsy guy."

"So..."

"So...if he went on a hike of any kind, it would be the short ones. A mile or two at most and he'd never wander off somewhere off the trail," Tony said. "He's just not like that. That's why we're worried. It's not like him."

"Okay. Do you know what he was driving?"

"No," Delilah said. "He rented a car, but I don't even know what company and he didn't tell me the model or anything. He doesn't really care about that kind of thing...and I didn't think to ask him."

"The inn doesn't collect license plate information," the ranger said. "We can probably rule out any of the areas he's already been to, but that leaves a large swath of the park still, especially since you're insisting that he wouldn't just go off into the backcountry on his own." He rubbed his head and looked at the map again. "Okay...I think the best bet is to try over at Yellowstone Lake. It doesn't look like he went there before. I'll call some rangers and have them check the parking lots. The problem is that some of them allow for overnight parking which makes it harder to know which ones should be there and shouldn't. Until we can get a sense of where he might be, that's how we'll have to go."

"Do you mind if we start looking ourselves?" Gibbs asked.

"No, but if you do, please, don't get lost," he said with a bit of a smile. "Let us know where you're going so we can keep track."

"We can do that."

"If you wouldn't mind at least waiting until we do some checking? We should be able to eliminate some areas."

"No. We don't mind."

"Good. I'll get going on this right away."

The ranger left the room.

"So...now, what, Agent Gibbs?" Delilah asked.

"Hey...I have an idea," Ellie said.

"What?" Tony asked.

"We're sure something is wrong. We don't think Tim would have willingly wandered off. That means something...unusual had to happen to get him out of contact. Weird things happen in threes?"

"I thought it was bad things."

"I was _trying_ to be optimistic," Ellie said.

Tony grinned.

"We could have Abby check and see if there have been crimes or injuries or something around and in the park in the last couple of days. That could give us a sense of _what_ happened, even if we don't know _where_, yet."

Delilah looked from Ellie to Gibbs and watched as he considered it. Then, he nodded.

"Call Abby."

Ellie nodded and headed out with Tony. Delilah took a breath and looked around the room.

"We're going to find him," Gibbs said into the silence.

"I was always annoyed when Tim would worry about me. I didn't want him to treat me any differently just because of this chair, and he tried not to. I was a little short with him, sometimes. I didn't want him to worry. It bothered me when he worried. I thought that would be the hardest part of being in a relationship while I was paralyzed. I thought about breaking up, you know. Not because I didn't love him, but because I wasn't sure if he still loved me. I thought maybe he was just staying with me out of pity and I didn't want to be taken care of, fussed over, worried about." Her throat tightened and she looked up at Gibbs. "I want him back and worrying about me," she said and laughed a little. "Agent Gibbs, I...I want him back. I don't want to have to worry about him."

Gibbs sat down on the bed across from her.

"We're going to find him. ...and Tim won't ever stop worrying, at least a little bit. That's the way he is."

Delilah smiled. "I know. I didn't know how much I could worry about _him_. So much of the last few months has been about me, whether I wanted it to be or not. I didn't realize how much it was. Now that it's about him... I'm worried."

"I know. You can't go where we'll be searching, you know."

"I know."

"We will find him and bring him back."

Delilah reached out and squeezed Gibbs hand.

"I know...if it's possible, I know you will."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim had to take a break. His ankle really hurt and it looked as though he was going to have to go uphill.

"Okay. Better to move than stay where I am."

Still, he had to rest for a few minutes. He took a drink and ate another granola bar. It was better to eat a little bit as he went along than to starve himself and wait until he got to specified meal times.

It was really too bad that he was so miserable. The area was beautiful. He'd hit a clearing that had burned trees still standing, probably from the big fire back in the eighties. Even this was beautiful, but he didn't dare stay in the open. So he gripped his walking stick and started out again. He was pretty sure that he wasn't covering much ground, but he _was_ fairly certain that he was still going north. He could see the sun, and while he wasn't positive about the time, the sun wasn't in the wrong spot for him to be facing north. He didn't dare leave marks on the trees to make sure that he wasn't going in circles, but he was as sure as he could be.

He started forward again.

Limping and grimacing.

Hours of the same routine. The only difference was how tired he felt (more and more as the day went on) and how much his ankle hurt (also more and more as the day went on). ...and he ran out of water again. That was the most worrying part (besides the people most likely coming after him). He knew that he could go without water for a day or so, but he would be getting prety bad if he didn't find another creek or stream. He'd take another rainstorm, but that couldn't be conjured up on command, unfortunately. He knew that drinking water directly from a stream without purifying it could lead to illness down the line, but he would take giardia over dying of thirst if those were his options.

The sun was on its way down and so Tim started to look for a place to hide/sleep. He wasn't as cold. The clouds hadn't come in, but that meant a cold night. He might have to go for the leaves again.

He hobbled forward and then stopped.

He thought he could hear running water.

Water!

He hobbled a little faster, following the sound.

It was a stream. Not huge, but there was definitely water flowing and flowing quickly. It looked crystal clear. He looked at it for a long moment. To drink or not to drink. There were no matches. He couldn't start a fire. He'd never been able to manage rubbing the sticks together as a scout. Even if he could, there were no containers in which to boil it. The bottle he had was plastic. Basically, it was the choice of drinking the water as is or not drinking at all.

Right now, since he wasn't desperate yet, Tim could look at it objectively.

Objectively, it made more sense to drink the water. Giardia, while unpleasant, was rarely fatal. He knew there was a small chance of lasting, permanent problems, too, and if he had any assurance of getting to a clean water source in the next twelve hours, he would wait.

...but the plain fact of the matter was that he still didn't know where he was. He still had no idea how far he had to go. If his likely pursuers caught up with him, he would need all the energy and strength he could get. He was at a major disadvantage to start.

Decision made, he opened his bottle and put it into the stream, filling it with water. He lifted it up and hesitated once more.

Then, he took a drink.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

He took another drink and then refilled his bottle. Time to find a place to sleep...and hope he hadn't just given himself giardia.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Gibbs' phone rang just as they were ready to concede defeat for the day and head for West Yellowstone to get a hotel room for the night.

"Yes?"

"_Agent Gibbs, we've found your friend's car."_

"Where?"

"_On the east side of the lake, near Lake Butte. Don't know how it got missed. People aren't supposed to be parking overnight in this lot. We saw it was a rental and so we called the company. It was rented to a Timothy McGee at the beginning of the week."_

"So what now?"

"_South of there is backcountry. Dangerous to go out there during the night. We don't even allow tent camping over here. Too many bears. We'll start looking on the trails around here at first light."_

"Any chance of staying somewhere closer than West Yellowstone tonight?" he asked.

"_You can try at the Lake Hotel. That's as close as you could get and they'll probably have rooms, but it's pricy."_

"We'll check it out. Thanks."

"_See you in the morning."_

Gibbs hung up and relayed what he'd been told.

"We can't start now?" Delilah asked.

"Not tonight."

She nodded.

"First thing in the morning."

"Okay."

They drove to the Lake Hotel and explained the situation. While the people at the desk were checking to see what they could do, Ellie decided to call Abby to see if anything had been found. Gibbs noticed her talking excitedly on the phone, but he was focused on getting the rooms.

"Gibbs! A man was found murdered in West Yellowstone two days ago. In a hotel room."

"Anything else?"

"Maybe."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and Ellie gulped.

"Another man was admitted to a hospital with minor head trauma the same day, but later. His friends said he'd lost his balance while hiking and hit a rock. The only reason it came up is because he snuck out without paying his bill. It was just a little bit story in the local paper."

Gibbs nodded and then turned back to the desk. They'd found a couple of rooms, but only a couple. Ellie and Delilah would share one and Gibbs and Tony would share another.

"Gibbs, I told you. Weird things happen in threes. With Tim missing...around the same time...that's three!"

Gibbs nodded.

"Abby said she'd find out everything she could about the man who was murdered and let us know."

"Good."

It was something that gave credence to what they'd worried about already, but Gibbs was more interested in going searching in the morning.

The sooner they found something that led them to Tim, the better, and he was pretty sure that the murdered man wouldn't lead them to Tim, whether he was involved in that or not.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

About the fifteenth time Tim woke up, there was light in the sky. No sun, but light heralding the approaching sun.

He started to shift around to get himself moving when he heard something else.

Voices.

He froze in place and strained to hear. Was this them finally catching up? Or was it someone who could help him?

"...times do I have to tell you that we'll catch him?"

Tim's heart sank. It was them. They had been coming after him and they had caught up. He couldn't get away, and clearly, he'd been leaving a trail that they had followed. He'd known that it was a possibility given his injury. He'd been proven right. They'd find him and kill him.

This was the last stand. He had to do something to get away from them.

_I have a knife and stick...and a sprained ankle._

It was time to grit his teeth and ignore the sprained ankle as much as he could. He knew the immediate area from investigating it the night before. He didn't have time to set up booby-traps or anything like that. It would have to be brute force if he could manage it. Divide and conquer would be best. He'd limped around quite a bit last night which would mask his exact location for a little while, giving him a little time to think. Not much, though.

He grimaced and searched around and then looked at his stick again. A good thwack with this would knock any person out. Okay. It was time to try his luck. He had no other choice. He would either come out of this alive...or he wouldn't come out of it at all.

Instead of using the stick as a brace, it was now a weapon. He eased himself out of his sleeping space as quietly as he could. His first step on his ankle made him clench his teeth together tightly to keep from letting any sound out. Then, he crept around the tree and headed toward the sound of his pursuers.

"The trail comes this way."

"Keep your voice down."

Brady.

So he had survived. Tim was moderately glad about that from the perspective of not having killed someone, but not from the perspective of wishing he only had to worry about two people instead of three.

He had to blink tears out of his eyes as he crept around, trying to make no sound. His ankle was now throbbing. He wasn't sure how long he could tolerate it.

"He wandered around here for a while, it looks like."

"Okay. Find where he went."

Tim heard them break away from each other, moving in different directions. Perfect. That was what he had hoped for.

He heard one coming toward him and he clenched the stick more tightly in his hand. The man came around the tree Tim was hiding behind.

Tim didn't hesitate. He hit the man with his stick as hard as he could. He hit him once and then again and once more before the man dropped to the ground.

Tim wasted no time. He dropped to the ground himself and searched the man as quickly as he could. That hadn't been silent and they'd be there to investigate all too soon.

He heard another person coming. He found a gun and grabbed it.

...and then, turned and fired before he had time to think.

The man in charge staggered backwards, hands to his chest. Then, he collapsed.

Tim didn't have time to do anything more than take a breath.

"You have something of mine."

Brady.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Agent Gibbs, I think you should see this."

Gibbs, Tony and Ellie hurried over to where Alan, one of the rangers helping with the search, was standing.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"The remains of a cell phone. An expensive one, too, if I'm any judge."

"Remains?"

He held out pieces.

"This wasn't just dropped. Someone smashed it. They were trying to break it. If it belongs to your friend..."

"Someone did that. Tim wouldn't have," Gibbs said.

"And that means that this is the first indication of where he might have been going."

"We can start from here," Tony said.

"Let's go."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim was on his knees, staring up at Brady.

They had been looking at each other for about a minute. Brady was in no hurry. Tim's gun didn't seem to be worrying him at all...which made Tim worried.

"You going to try to use that?" Brady asked. "Or should I wait for you to realize that you don't have any more bullets in the gun?"

Tim didn't look at the gun. If it was true, it wouldn't change by his looking. If it was a lie, it was supposed to be a distraction. Better to keep his eyes on the definite danger.

Brady smiled a little.

"I'm impressed."

"Great. I'm thrilled," Tim said.

"This is the end of the line."

"I figured."

"What are you going to do?"

Tim looked at Brady for a long moment.

Then, he lifted the gun as Brady started toward him.

...and he pulled the trigger.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They decided to split up and each go with a separate group of rangers. They didn't know what direction Tim would have gone after whatever had smashed his phone.

Delilah was waiting back at the Lake Hotel. Impatiently. ...but she knew that they'd likely be gone for most of the day.

It was now about waiting and hoping that everything would turn out okay.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim was still on his knees.

It seemed _really_ quiet after everything that had happened. While the standoff had seemed to last forever, the whole thing had taken maybe five minutes.

Brady's body had been added to the other two.

_I just killed three people._

He was breathing heavily, not because of the exertion.

Brady had been lying about the gun.

There had been bullets in it.

He swallowed.

It really wasn't something that he'd been called on to do much in his time as an agent. The possibility was always there, but killing people hadn't been common for him, something he was glad of.

It wasn't that he was sorry they were dead. They had been coming after him, trying to kill him. It was that it had been necessary at all.

What a crappy day this was shaping up to be. And since it was coming on the heels of a number of other crappy days, that made this one a real doozy.

The only positive thing that he could see was that his only remaining challenge was to find his way to someone who could help him. It appeared that no one was coming after him now. He hoped. How many others could there possibly be? He'd already killed three men. Could there really be more?

Now, he just had to figure out where he was and how far he had to go. ...and he had to get there.

"And you have to get up off the ground, Tim," he said to himself. "You can't just sit here. They're criminals. They were trying to kill you. Get over it."

Tim nodded to himself and crawled over to the man who had been in charge. He searched through his pack and found water. That was important. He took it. He searched some more and found food. He took that as well and stuffed it into his own pack...well, the pack he'd taken from Brady however many days before. Technically, it wasn't _his_ pack.

Then, he went over to the other man and searched through his pack. There was a thermal blanket in there. Wonderful. He took that. More water. More food. There was even a small first aid kit. He opened it up and found a compression wrap. He wasn't sure how much it would help at this point, but he took it out and then rolled up his pant leg and wrapped his ankle.

Then, he thought of something else that he should have thought of first.

Maybe, they had phones! Maybe, he could call for help if they had reception!

He searched the pockets and his hopes were dashed. No phones. Either they just didn't carry them (very unlikely) or they had other plans and decided not to bring them into a forest where they likely wouldn't be able to use them much of the time.

What he did find was his wallet and ID. He took those back and slipped them into his pocket.

And one more discovery. A compass. At least, he could now figure out which direction he was going rain or shine.

So it was back to the original plan.

Walk until he found someone.

He didn't like leaving the bodies here, but it wasn't as though he could take them with him. There was no way he was going to try dragging even one along. Let alone three. He'd be lucky to drag himself at this point. Dead bodies weren't worth the effort.

He'd broken his walking stick beating the first man's head in and, even with the wrap, his ankle hurt. A lot. So he limped around until he found another good candidate stick.

Then, he started walking north again.

Slowly. Limping. Tired. Aching.

Miserable.

...and there was that little niggling thing in the back of his mind.

_I just killed three people._

He tried not to dwell on it. He tried to ignore it, but it was hard when there was so little to distract him. ...except for pain which he didn't want to focus on, either.

The route he had taken started getting steep and he just didn't have the energy to face an uphill climb. So he got out the compass and checked it. Continuing due north looked like it would lead him up over a mountain and he didn't think he could make it. But it was possible that he was east of the lake which meant that if he angled a bit west, he could still hit it, depending on where he was in relation to it. And, no matter where he was, if he somehow missed the lake, he'd hit the road as long as he kept north when he could.

So he chose to take the easier path and continue, more or less, level. He couldn't see the value in forcing himself upward.

His rests were getting longer and his time walking shorter as his ankle kept hurting, but he tried to keep moving as long as there was daylight.

Near dark, he hit what _might_ be a trail. That was _something_. Perhaps not much, but something. Still, trail or no trail, he wasn't going to keep moving in the dark. He started to search for a place to stop. The sky had remained clear all day and that meant another cold night, but he was better prepared for it this time.

Suddenly, he stumbled out into a clearing and he had a thought.

_I can look at the stars._

Maybe, it was silly. Maybe, it was impractical. Maybe, it wasn't even safe, but once he'd thought of it, Tim knew he had to stay up and look at the stars.

He sat down under a tree, ate a granola bar and some jerky (the remainder of which, he wrapped up, sealed and wrapped up again), drank clean water, and waited for full darkness. He heard animals moving around, but he didn't see them. He was glad of that. He felt so tired that he wasn't sure it would be worth trying to get away. He was the weak to be culled from the herd.

Regardless of whether animals came after him or not, he was going to look at the stars. Right now, that was all he cared about.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They had to concede defeat for the night. It was discouraging because, if Tim had been on a trail, it was going to be obscured by others. If he'd gone off the trail for some reason, they had no way of knowing what his path might have been unless they happened upon it...after three or four days, including one day with a heavy rainstorm.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It amazed Tim how dark it got out here. No lights anywhere...except what he could see in the sky and what he could see in the sky was so beautiful. He wrapped himself up in the thermal blanket and lay on his back to stare at the sky. He wouldn't stay here all night, of course, but for a while, it was nice to lay where he was and just be taken in by the beauty of the night sky.

For an unknown amount of time, he lay there, lost in the grandeur, the sheer enormity and beauty of the sky.

_What would I change?_

The question came up out of nowhere and jarred him out of his rapt contemplation.

It brought his mind around to what he had done just that morning. Would he change the life that had made that event possible? He had killed three people today. If he had chosen another path, it wouldn't have happened. Would he want that change?

No.

He wanted the life he had. It was something he had pursued for years, a dream he'd wanted to fulfill, no matter who had spoken against it (and plenty of people had). He wanted it, even with the pain and distress that had come from it.

But that didn't mean that he was happy with everything. He should do more, be more than he was. He just wasn't sure what that should mean. What more should he be? What was the answer to that question? He didn't know.

Then, another thought struck him.

"Just look at the stars, Tim," he said softly.

Enjoy the stars and don't think about anything else. Don't think about how far there could be to go. Don't think about what he'd done in the past. Don't think about what could be coming in the future. Just be in the present, in the moment. That was really hard for him to do. Too often, he was worrying about the past or planning for the future...even when his life _wasn't_ on the line.

He looked up at the stars for a while longer and then, he started feeling drowsy. He didn't want to sleep out in the open. It felt much too exposed. He groaned as he got up and limped over to the trees again. He found another bush and curled up under it, wrapped in his blanket and the thermal blanket over top. Then, he draped the poncho over his head to keep the dew off. It was much more comfortable than he'd been on previous nights.

It was easier to get to sleep this time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Tim woke up, feeling almost warm, but his ankle hurt as much as ever. He ate a couple of granola bars and a piece of jerky and then drank some water.

Then, it was time to grit his teeth and start walking again. He was not looking forward to it, and part of him was tempted to stay where he was and just hope that someone randomly wandered off the trail and found him...before his food and water ran out and before any animals found him. However, he knew he had to keep moving, no matter how slowly. If he could depend on someone finding him, he would, but he had no way of knowing if Delilah had become worried enough to report him missing yet. He hoped she had, but he wasn't willing to risk it.

He pulled out the compass and oriented himself again. The trail went off to the west. As long as he didn't go south, he figured that there was no harm in following it. He started off, limping.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"All right, let's get going," Alan said. "You ready?"

Tony nodded. "Absolutely."

They started off.

"The longer we don't find him, you know..."

"We're going to find him," Tony said.

"Okay."

Tony wasn't going to accept the possibility that they'd never find him or that they'd find him dead. They were going to find Tim alive.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim decided to go off the trail that he wasn't sure was really a trail again when it started curving south. He'd already been trail blazing anyway. His ankle felt like it must have swollen two or three times larger than it should be. Even when he was sitting, it throbbed. Of course, he shouldn't be walking on it, but it wasn't like he could conjure up crutches. He was still hoping for someone to swoop in and save him, but he wasn't sure he should keep thinking about that. It wasn't going to happen. He had to depend on himself.

With another breath, he got to his feet to start walking again. It hurt, of course, but he didn't have any other choice. He continued for a while longer, but then, he decided he needed another rest. His water would be running out again if he kept on at this rate, but he was so thirsty. If worse came to worst, he'd drink some more river or creek water and hope for no giardia.

As he sat and drank some water, he thought he heard something.

Voices!

A few of them!

He strained to hear where the sound was coming from. Then, he started forward again. He wasn't going to miss this chance.

He kept moving, but whoever these people were, they were walking a lot faster than he could limp. The voices were already fainter than they had been. They might leave him behind. The idea that he could lose his chance to be found was untenable.

Was it worth the risk to shout? He had no reason to expect another group with nefarious plans. Not even _he_ could have that much bad luck.

"Hello!" he shouted as loudly as he could.

No response. His heart was in his throat.

"Hello!"

There was a long silence.

"Hello?"

It was very faint, but Tim headed toward it again.

"Wait for me!" he shouted. "Don't leave! Please, don't leave!"

Another long silence.

"Who is this?"

"I'm coming! Wait!"

Tim kept moving. His ankle was throbbing but he had to get there, to whoever these people were before they got tired of waiting for some stranger. They were a likely source of help, and he wasn't going to lose this chance.

After what seemed like forever, he could hear them and see movement of bright colors through the trees. He forced himself to go as fast as possible no matter how much it hurt.

"Hello," he said and tripped onto a real trail, panting heavily.

A group of about ten people, all perhaps in their early twenties, stared at him in shock.

"Please...I need some help," he said, breathlessly.

"Wow. Uh...of course," one of them said. "What do you need?"

Tim sagged against a tree, holding back tears of pain.

"Which way to civilization? Or at least a ranger station...and a place to sit down?"

"Uh...that way," he said, pointing vaguely northward.

"How many miles?"

"Three, maybe?"

"Oh..." Tim wanted to cry at the thought of having to walk that much further. He dropped his head into his hands.

"What's your name?"

"Tim McGee."

"Wait... Tim McGee? As in the guy who's been missing for the last few days?"

Tim looked up and, then, straightened as he realized there were a _lot_ interested gazes on him now.

"Um...yes?"

"There was a notice at the trailhead that there was a man who had gone missing in this part of the park and for hikers to keep their eye out for him. Timothy McGee."

"That would be me," Tim said. He started to pull out his wallet and then decided he didn't need to.

"Wow! I never thought that we'd actually see you. Cool! Can we help?"

"I don't suppose you could magically transport me back so that I don't have to walk anymore?"

There were some chuckles around the group, but they were all still staring avidly at him. It was a little discomfiting.

"No, but we can help you back."

"Are you sure? I don't want to ruin your plans."

"Are you kidding? We're going to be heroes! That's the coolest possible thing that could happen today!"

Tim laughed.

"If that's what it takes to get some help, I'll let you all be heroes."

"Okay. David, can you take his pack?"

"Sure!" A tall skinny kid who looked like he was all legs and arms walked over and helped Tim ease the pack off his back. He felt like he could fly without the weight.

"Thank you," Tim said. "It's not too heavy for you?"

"No way."

"Felt like a ton of bricks on my back." Tim almost cautioned him about the gun in there, but he decided against it. Then, he hesitated and looked around. "I don't suppose I could lean on one of you? I sprained my ankle a couple of days ago and walking on it is really hard."

"Sure. Absolutely, but let's see if we can make it a little easier for you, too. Here. We've all certified in first aid. Decided that it would be a good idea for this trip. You'll be our first patient!"

"Oh, no," Tim said, but he smiled.

They were all extremely excited, but he could hardly complain if they were going to try and help him feel better.

They got him to lie down on the trail and then, they started to investigate his ankle.

"Yikes. This looks bad. You've been walking on it?"

"For a few days. Had to."

"Okay. Then, what we'll do is elevate for about 20 minutes. Sarah, soak something in water and we'll get as close to icing it as we can."

They fussed over him, and while Tim wasn't sure he liked all the attention, he had to admit that it was nice not to have to worry about things. After giving him some ibuprofen and wrapping his ankle in a wet t-shirt, they let him lay there for a while before they would move on.

Tim felt really awkward with everyone staring at him. He tried to make some conversation. "So...you all know who I am. Who are you all?"

"Oh, we're just taking a hiking trip to celebrate the end of the school year. We're hiking the Thorofare."

That pinged something in Tim's brain, but he didn't know what it was.

"Thorofare?"

"It's a long backcountry trail. Goes all the way down into the Bridger-Teton National Forest. It's not too hard, mostly flat, but it's long. Over 30 miles and that's just going 1 way."

"And you're the one in charge?"

"Today, I am. We decided to switch off to keep things running smoothly. No dictators," he said with a grin. "But it was my big idea; so I got to be in charge first. I haven't decided if I'm going to give up my power tomorrow yet."

Tim laughed a little. "So... who are you all? David's got my pack."

"Right. I'm David, too, but I go by Dave to keep things clearer. That's Sarah and her sister Lisa...or did I get that backwards?"

"Nope, that's right," Lisa said. "We're twins."

"Of course, you are," Tim said.

"Sunnie and her fiancé Moroni."

Tim craned his neck to see the couple and waved at them.

"Blake, Jess and Harris. And finally, Sydney and her cousin Andrew."

"I'm not going to remember all that."

"That's okay," Sydney said. "There are a lot of us and only one of you."

"So...what happened?" Dave asked. "You weren't even on a trail."

"Long story," Tim said, not wanting to get into the fact that he'd killed three people. "I'm going to need to find a ranger, but...I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got mixed up with some people who didn't give me any option but to go with them. Got away and started making my way back, but I didn't know where I was or how far I had to go."

"Weird. Well, it's not that far now. A few miles and we'll help you back."

"I don't want to ruin this big trip you've got planned, though."

"Oh, no. We can just start over again tomorrow," Moroni said. "No big deal. We've got the time. It's summer vacation!"

"I can't thank you enough," Tim said. "I really didn't want to walk for three more miles on my own."

Another round of laughter.

After a few more minutes, Dave checked Tim's ankle and wrapped it up fairly tightly.

"Okay, I'll let you lean on me, first. You'll have to put some weight on that side, but we'll try to make it as easy as possible."

"Sounds good."

Blake and Harris helped him stand and then he leaned on Dave and they started off. It was so much easier that Tim felt like cheering.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Still no sign," Gibbs said into his radio.

"_We're going to have to head back."_

"I know."

Every day that Tim was out there in the park meant it was more and more likely that they'd never find him...at least, not alive. Gibbs hated that, but he knew that was the case. Rangers who were out further in the southeast corner of the park hadn't found anything, either. None of the day hikers had seen him.

It was like Tim had simply vanished into thin air. The problem was that, in the forested areas, they could walk right by him and, if he was unconscious, they could miss him completely.

They would have to keep trying as long as they could.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"We should be there soon," Jess said.

Tim was leaning on him, currently.

"Good."

His ankle had started hurting more again, but he tried not to complain about it since they'd already done so much for him.

Dave was at the head of the group and suddenly, he shouted back.

"I see the parking lot!"

"See? What did I tell you?" Jess said with a grin.

"I'm so glad you were right."

They got to a parking lot, and Tim sighed with relief.

"Where's the nearest ranger station?"

"Over in Lake Village. We'll drive you over."

"Really? Thank you. Again. Thank you so much."

"That'd be another few miles. I don't think you want to walk that."

Tim shook his head, fervently.

"No. Absolutely not."

Jess laughed and helped Tim to a car. Tim got in, and David handed him his pack. Tim leaned back against the seat and sighed with relief again. Dave got in the driver's side.

"I need to get to a ranger station," Tim said.

"Looks to me like you need a medical clinic more."

"I can go there, after. I'm not seriously injured. If you could just take me to the ranger station and drop me off there, you can get back to your hike."

"It'll be too late to start out tonight. Actually..." Dave looked in his rearview mirror. "...everyone is following us."

"What?"

"They're all coming. This is too exciting for them to just wait here."

"I'm glad I'm providing so much entertainment."

Tim closed his eyes and, thankfully, Dave kept quiet on the way over to the ranger station at Lake Village. He almost fell asleep, in fact. The car seat felt like the softest mattress ever.

Suddenly, the car jerked to a stop.

"We're here," Dave said. "I'll help you inside."

"Thanks."

Dave grabbed Tim's pack, tossed it to David who was right there with everyone else, and then, helped Tim into the station.

The whole lot of them came into the ranger station and probably took the ranger on duty by surprise.

"Hey! We found that hiker who was missing!" Dave announced. "...or he found us. Either way, here he is!"

The ranger's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Tim heard another voice. It was so unexpected that he didn't recognize it, at first.

"Tim?"

Tim turned his head toward the voice and then was shocked to see...

"Delilah?"

Delilah was sitting there. In the ranger's station. In Yellowstone. _Not_ in Dubai. Tim found he could barely wrap his mind around her being there.

"What...are you doing here?"

Delilah wheeled herself over and Tim let go of Dave.

"You've been missing," she said.

"I know."

She reached out and grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He lost his balance and would have toppled them both over, but Delilah had put on her brakes.

"I was so worried," she whispered in his ear.

"I didn't...know you'd be _this_ worried."

"What do you mean?"

"Dubai is a long ways from here," he said. "It's got to have taken you forever to get here."

"I know and I couldn't stand staying there while you were lost here."

Tim didn't know how to respond to that; so he just hugged her back.

"Oh..." She let him go and he staggered a little. Dave grabbed hold of him to keep him upright. "We should let Gibbs and the others know."

"_Gibbs _is here?" Tim asked, even more shocked than he'd been before.

"Yes. Your whole team is here."

"They are? Why?"

"Looking for _you_, Tim!" Delilah said, impatiently. "What do you think?"

"I think...I need to sit down. Is there a chair? Besides yours?" he asked with a weak smile.

Then, Delilah seemed to notice that he wasn't standing on his own.

"What happened?"

"Lots happened," Tim said, unwilling to elaborate at the moment. "But I sprained my ankle a few days ago and it really hurts."

Someone brought a chair and he sank onto it, gratefully.

"I'll contact the rangers who are out looking for you."

"Thanks," Tim said to whoever had spoken. He was just looking at Delilah, still trying to register that she was really there in front of him.

"Who are all these people with you, Tim?"

Tim looked back over his shoulder and saw all the smiling hikers. He smiled back at them.

"My heroes," he said with a grin. "I heard them hiking and shouted for them to wait. They did. Then...they helped me walk the last three miles. They put off their big hiking trip to help me back. They deserve medals."

"Yes! I'd love a medal!" David said.

Tim laughed and looked back at Delilah.

"If you don't get one, I'll make you one," she said.

Tim could see that Delilah was bursting to ask him what had happened, but he really didn't want these college kids to hear about the fact that the man they'd rescued had single-handedly killed three people...even if those three people had been criminals. He just didn't want to see that change to the thrill they were experiencing at being the heroes.

She opened her mouth and he shook his head just a little. She looked a little confused, but thankfully, she didn't press it.

Finally, after an awkward silence, Dave clued in that Tim might want to be alone with his girlfriend and he shooed everyone out.

"What happened, Tim?"

Tim stared at the ground for a moment and then looked back at the ranger who was coming out from the back.

"They're on their way back in. You have some very happy people coming," she said.

"Yeah, I'm sure...but you should also tell the rangers that there are three dead bodies out there in the park. I can't tell you where exactly except that it's south and east of here."

Her eyes widened again.

"Three?"

"Yeah. I killed them. The gun I used on two of them is in the pack. The other one...I used a stick. Blunt force trauma to the head. I didn't keep the stick. It broke."

Delilah touched his arm.

"Tim...what happened?"

"Can it wait until they get back...so I only have to tell it once?"

"Of course." She looked at the ranger. "Tim could use some food and water, I think...and maybe some painkillers?"

Tim nodded.

"And an ice pack...or two."

"Two?" Tim asked.

"One for your face. One for your ankle."

"Oh. Is my face bad?"

"Swollen and bruised."

"Yeah, one of the guys hit me. He had a mean right hook. Knocked me out for a second and left me loopy for a while."

"I can get something for you," the ranger said.

After she left the room, Delilah wheeled herself closer to Tim.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm alive. I'm not lost in the park anymore. You're here," Tim said with a small smile. "...but no, I'm not really all right. Not right now. I'm tired. I hurt. ...and I'm not looking forward to explaining everything, but I know I need to. There might also be a dead man somewhere between here and West Yellowstone. I think they killed him before they came after me."

"He's probably dead."

"What? How did you know?"

"There was a man found murdered in his hotel room in West Yellowstone. I doubt they have many murders around here."

"Oh." Tim found that he felt pretty much numb as far as those things went.

Delilah put her hand on Tim's cheek. Tim covered it with his own.

"I'll be all right. Just not right now."

"Okay. I'll wait."

"Thanks."

They sat in silence for a few minutes and then Tim raised an eyebrow.

"You really flew all the way to Yellowstone because I didn't call you?"

"Did you really think that I wouldn't?"

Tim smiled. "Actually, yeah. I thought it would take a few days before you really worried and even then, I figured you'd call someone here to start looking for me. I never expected everyone to drop everything to come here and look."

"You're too important to just trust someone else."

"You don't have to massage my ego, Delilah. I know you all...care... I just... didn't expect _this_."

The ranger came back and helped Tim get more comfortable. She elevated his ankle and gave instructions on icing it and gave him another ice pack for his face. Tim hadn't even really noticed that his face hurt, but his ankle hurt so much that he figured that he hadn't been able to feel it. He leaned back on the chair and then, he looked at Delilah and she smiled and leaned his head onto her shoulder.

Tim closed his eyes and relaxed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Delilah felt protective of Tim as he leaned against her. He might even be asleep for all she knew. But he wasn't moving around, and she could see that he was bothered by what he had to do. She desperately wanted to know what the details were, but she would respect his request to only have to go through it once. She wasn't sure if Tim's reticence was simply due to his exhaustion or if he was that bothered by it.

Tim shifted position a little bit and his eyes opened. She felt him tense a little, but then, he smiled.

"What?" she asked.

"I'll have to remember this for later."

"What?"

His smile widened.

"Now, I know how to get you over here. I just have to wander off for a few days."

Delilah laughed and hugged him again.

"Don't ever do this again, Tim. I might have to kill you."

"Personally? So you'll be here?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then, I'll have time to talk you out of it."

"You're feeling feisty."

"That's because I don't have to move. I'd be like an old man if I was having to stand."

"I won't make you...for now."

"Good. ...did you go and see Old Faithful while you were here?"

"Of course not! I was here to look for you, not to see the sights."

"Will you have time? Maybe we could go and see it. ...is my vacation over?"

"Yes. You should have been back to work in the morning."

"Oh." Tim looked at his elevated leg. "I don't think I'm going to be at work tomorrow."

"No, you won't be. I wouldn't let you, even if you _wanted_ to be."

"I'm okay with that."

The door to the ranger's station suddenly burst open. Tim jumped and his leg slipped to the floor.

He groaned and let out a couple of choice swear words. Delilah leaned over and helped him prop it up again.

"Thanks," he whispered, and she saw him blinking back tears.

"Anytime."

That was all there was time for because, then, there were people making a lot of noise around him. Tony was actually shaking him with an over-enthusiastic thump on the back.

"McGee! You're all right!"

Delilah watched as Tim visibly withdrew from the noise and chaos. He didn't move, really, but his expression closed off and he was tense.

"Careful, Tony," she said quickly. "Tim has a sprained ankle."

Tony stopped shaking Tim, but he couldn't get the goofy and _relieved_ grin off his face. It was obvious that he had been ready to find Tim dead, not alive in the ranger's station.

"They were ready to write you off, Tim," he said. "I told them that you'd be fine. Didn't I, Alan."

The ranger with him just smiled.

"You have quite a fan club out there, Agent McGee," Alan said.

"They helped me back here," Tim said. "They were wonderful. They deserve medals. If I could do it, I'd make them myself."

"How much help did they give you?" Tony asked.

"Three miles' worth and a drive over here. They put off starting their hike just to help me back."

"Sounds like heroes to me," Ellie said.

Then, the light feeling vanished as Gibbs approached.

"What happened, Tim?" he asked.

Tim's smile vanished and Delilah saw him tense up again.

"This will be a criminal investigation, Boss. You want all the details now?"

"If you're up to it."

Tim nodded reluctantly.

"Not here, though."

"So I have to move?" he asked.

"Yeah. We'll help."

"Okay."

Tim sat up and carefully lowered his leg to the floor. Tony quickly moved to support Tim as he started to limp. Delilah came along after them.

"Agent Gibbs?" she said in a low voice as Tony and Tim went out, with Ellie holding the door open for them.

Gibbs turned back.

"Tim is pretty upset about what happened."

"I saw that. Better to get it over with now than for him to worry about it overnight." He turned to leave and then he looked back and smiled. "And Ellie will find another place to sleep."

Delilah flushed a little, but she smiled and let Gibbs hold the door open for her.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

They spoke to the hikers who had helped Tim, but then, it was time to let them go. Tim and Delilah promised faithfully that they'd mention the group if they were interviewed for a news article...which they probably would be. They were clearly hoping for their fifteen minutes of fame, and Tim was fine with letting them get it. After one last expression of gratitude, they went their separate ways.

Tim fell asleep on the way up to Mammoth. It was over an hour up there. Then, they woke him up and helped him into the medical clinic to check out his ankle. They determined that it was badly sprained, but not broken. He was told to rest it for a couple of days before starting rehab. Then, they went to the park headquarters so that Tim could give his account.

"Okay, Tim. Tell us what happened."

Tim sighed. He wasn't looking forward to this, but he knew it was necessary.

"I was on a trail, just a short hike. A couple of miles. It was supposed to have a nice view of the lake. When I was heading back, I heard people talking. Something about a sale of something. I never heard what it was supposed to be, but it was clear that it was something illegal. One man threatened to kill another one if he didn't pay. I knew I couldn't do anything to help as I was. I didn't have any weapons. I was on vacation!"

He looked at Gibbs, feeling absurdly ashamed that he hadn't been able to anticipate this. Gibbs said nothing. Tim looked down for a moment and continued.

"I was trying to sneak around them so that I could find a ranger or someone, but I guess I wasn't quiet enough. I turned around and got punched in the face. I wasn't quite unconscious, but I was out of it for a few minutes, I think. Then, they brought me around. There were four of them all together. One guy was definitely in charge. Another was the one being threatened. He was really twitchy. They called him Lancer. They got us all walking, and we walked all day. I really don't know where we went or how far. It was long, and I was tired. We kept up a fast pace, but I can't tell you more than that."

"That's fine."

Tim nodded.

"The next day...we walked some more. Then, I was left with one of them. His name was Brady. The others left, and I was pretty sure Lancer wouldn't be coming back...at least, not alive. He was a liability. And I knew I would be, eventually. I figured that they'd keep me alive until they got wherever they needed to go. I knew I had to try to get away. So I waited. Brady was antsy and he got too close to me. I knocked him out and ran."

"Way to go, McGee!" Tony said.

"You've been missing for almost five days since then," Gibbs said, ignoring Tony.

"Yeah. I didn't know where I was. I have no idea what direction I was going. I could have been walking in circles that first day or two. There was a storm. I had a bear sniffing at me one of the mornings. ...and I sprained my ankle. I didn't make much progress after that. Oh, and I should probably get tested for giardia. I had to drink the water out there once."

"Okay."

Gibbs wasn't saying much, and Tim had no idea what he was thinking. He just wanted this to be over. He wanted to get into a bed and sleep for a million years...and not think about all this anymore.

"I kept walking, but I knew they'd catch up, eventually. With my ankle, I was moving too slowly to get away. ...and I was right." Tim was now getting to the part that bothered him. "So...I had to confront them. I knew I'd be dead if I did nothing and I'd be dead if it didn't work. Nothing to lose."

Tim looked at Delilah who was sitting beside him. She hadn't said a word, but she squeezed his hand tightly.

"I hit one of them on the head...a few times. He had a gun. I grabbed it and shot the one in charge. Then, I shot Brady. I couldn't bring them with me and I have no idea where I was...except that it's south of the lake. I think they were on their way to the Thorofare. I heard them mention it once, but I don't know if that means they had a definite goal in mind. I don't know if there was someone waiting for them at the end." Tim sighed. "But they aren't going to get there."

There was a silence and then Tim looked at the others.

"And I'm really tired, now, Boss. Can I sleep? Please?"

"In a minute."

Gibbs got up and talked to the ranger in a low voice. Tim couldn't hear him.

"It's okay, Tim," Delilah said softly. "You're going to be fine."

"Yeah, I will," Tim said. "Just not now."

"Good job, McGee," Tony said, sounding completely sincere. "Doesn't sound like fun."

"It wasn't," Tim said, forcing a smile on his face. "I'm ready to stop walking...maybe forever."

"I don't blame you," Ellie said. "I like hiking that's a bit much."

"You guys really came out here to look for me?" Tim asked.

"Of course!" Tony said. "Once Delilah told us that she couldn't get a hold of you, did you really think that we wouldn't?"

"I guess...I'm just surprised that you all dropped everything to come out here. I was shocked enough just seeing Delilah here instead of in Dubai."

Delilah squeezed his hand and smiled.

"Well, you shouldn't be," Ellie said. "Tony was already worried. He'd tried to call you a few times."

Tim raised his eyebrow and Tony grinned.

"You know me. I can't keep myself out of things. I'm too nosy."

Tim knew that, but he also could see that he'd worried more people than he'd thought he would. Or at least, he'd worried them to a greater degree than he'd thought he would.

Then, Gibbs came over and sat down in front of Tim.

"They're going to look for the bodies and they'll get someone at the end of the Thorofare trail. They'd like you to stay for a couple of days while they look into things."

"Of course," Tim said. He managed an almost-sincere smile. "Believe it or not, Boss... I could use a vacation."

Gibbs smiled back and then got serious.

"Don't focus on what you had to do. If it was necessary, it was necessary. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"I know. I had too much time to think about it," Tim said. "Nothing else to think about...besides how much my ankle hurt."

"Yeah." Gibbs looked at him and then at Delilah. "I think you should use your days here to have a vacation."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Delilah said.

"The rangers have places for us to sleep tonight. Your room is wheelchair accessible. Go to bed."

"Gladly."

Tim got to his feet and clumsily managed the crutches and went with Delilah to a simple room. There was a bed. It wasn't monstrous, but it was large enough.

"I probably reek, don't I," Tim said.

Delilah smiled. "Yeah, you do."

"Okay. I'll shower, first."

Tim crutched into the bathroom, showered awkwardly, and then came out. Delilah had maneuvered herself into the bed in the interim.

"Ready to sleep?" she asked.

"Yes. You have no idea. I feel like I haven't slept at all in a week."

"All right."

Tim awkwardly got himself onto the bed, and it was amazing how soft it felt. It was wonderful. Tim got himself arranged so that his ankle didn't get in the way. Then, he closed his eyes and fell asleep in seconds.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Delilah woke up well before Tim did. In fact, his snoring woke her up, but she didn't have the heart to try and get him to stop snoring. If he was as tired as he'd seemed, he needed the sleep.

He was certainly worse for the wear. Considering that he was in Yellowstone because he had been needing a vacation, she wasn't sure she'd seen him this tense, probably ever.

Suddenly, Tim interrupted her thoughts by shifting around and then, opening his eyes and sucking in a deep breath. Then, he just stared at the ceiling, breathing slowly.

"Good morning," Delilah said, softly.

Tim looked over at her.

"It is a good morning. Much better than previous mornings."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Still tired. Achy." He sighed. "But I'm better."

"How's your ankle?"

Tim shifted around a little.

"I almost wish I could just cut it off."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't, but it hurts. A lot."

He sighed again and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"You know what the worst thing was out there?"

"What?"

"Being alone. Knowing that I couldn't depend on anyone for anything."

"But you got out of it yourself."

"Yeah...and I wish that I hadn't had to. If there had been other people with me, there might have been other options than having to kill three people. It's not that I wish they weren't dead. They were trying to kill me... I just wish it wasn't me that had to do it." He smiled a little. "It's one of those things. I haven't had to kill many people in my job, and I like it that way. I'm used to having three people backing me up. I don't want to have to do that again."

"I don't blame you, Tim," Delilah said.

He took another breath and let it out.

"So...what now?"

"I don't know. I guess you could get up."

"Yeah, but that means I'd have to move."

"Yes, that's part of it."

"Okay. Is there a meal?"

"I hope so."

"Me, too. I'm hungry."

Delilah got herself out of the bed and into her chair. It was getting easier all the time to manage it. Then, she rolled into the bathroom to get ready for the day and to give Tim a little bit of privacy.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Gibbs was undecided on how to proceed from here. Technically, they could leave, now. Tim had been found. Delilah would be here with him. Tim wouldn't be on his own, and they did have work to do back in DC.

...and yet, he knew that it was, partially, because of his insistence that Tim take time off that his agent had been put in the position he was. He also could see that Tim was bothered by what he had been required to do to save himself.

He didn't want to leave Tim to deal with that on his own (not even with Delilah around), and he wanted to talk to him about it...preferably one-on-one.

And there wasn't a convenient elevator here.

He walked over to the building where Tim and Delilah had spent the night, hoping that Tim was awake. He knocked on the door and then, waited...wondering which of them would answer.

Then, after a few seconds, there was a muffled call.

"The door's unlocked!"

Gibbs smiled and stepped in.

Delilah was halfway into her chair and Tim was sitting on a chair with his leg propped up. It didn't look like he'd even _tried_ to move. He still looked very worn, even discounting the large bruise on his face. If Gibbs had been asked whether or not he thought Tim could deal with something like this, he would have hesitated before answering. Tim was much more in shape than he had been when he first joined the team, but still, he didn't tend to seek outdoor activities. If Gibbs was honest with himself, he would have been doubtful that Tim could manage nearly a week lost in the woods, injured, and completely unprepared for the elements. Tim had surprised him.

"Agent Gibbs," Delilah said, getting into her chair and rolling herself over to greet him. "What brings you here? Tim and I have been lazy. We haven't even eaten anything for breakfast yet."

"Because I've been unwilling to move," Tim said. "I managed to get out of bed and onto this chair. I don't plan moving again for a while."

Gibbs could see that Tim wasn't exaggerating. If his ankle hurt as much as it had seemed to, he probably didn't want to even shift position. However, this room wasn't the most comfortable place they could be. They should probably get him and Delilah to a real hotel, maybe in West Yellowstone. If they weren't heading back to DC for a few days, they should be as comfortable as possible.

"You think you could manage to get to a hotel?"

"Can't stay here?"

"Nope."

"Then, I guess I can manage it."

That was it, right there, Gibbs decided. The reason Tim could make it, the reason he could manage on his own was because he dealt with whatever he had to. If he could avoid it, he would, but if not, he would deal with it.

Tim gritted his teeth and lowered his leg to the floor. He looked at Gibbs and smiled weakly.

"It's not feeling any better, yet, Boss," Tim said. "I'm not sure when it will."

"I didn't come over to ask you to get back to work, Tim," Gibbs said.

He glanced at Delilah and she nodded, getting the hint right away.

"I'm going to see if I can find a source of food. I'll be back."

Tim waved as she left. Then, he looked at Gibbs.

"Is there going to be a problem, Boss?" he asked.

"With what?"

"The fact that I killed three people?"

"If what you said is verified, they were involved in illegal activities. They were also trying to kill you. The fact that you killed them in self-defense won't have any negative impact." Then, Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "At least, not legally."

Tim smiled and then looked down at his foot. He took a breath and lifted his leg back to the chair and winced.

"I'll be okay with it, Boss. I'm just not, yet."

"You don't have to be."

Gibbs let the silence fall. Better to let Tim say what he wanted to say, first.

"It was being alone that was the worst," Tim said. "I knew that Delilah would probably start to worry if she couldn't get a hold of me. I knew you'd all miss me if I didn't show up to work. ...but until then... I was alone, Boss. I didn't have anyone. I didn't have any way of _getting_ to anyone. I didn't even know where I was. I didn't know how far I had to go. I probably wandered in circles for at least part of the time. All I knew was that I had to keep moving, and after I sprained my ankle, it just hurt so much. ...but I had to keep moving because there was no other choice."

Gibbs nodded. Again, that perspective Tim had. No other choice; so you do what you can't do, anyway. He didn't like it. He'd hated the experience. If he'd been asked, he would have said no, but without the choice, he just made do.

"I'm glad to be out of that. It wasn't even on my radar as something that could have happened out here. I was just resentful that you'd made me go on a trip alone that I had planned with my girlfriend."

"Are you still?" Gibbs asked.

Tim actually smiled a little. It almost looked genuine.

"Considering what happened out there, I'm still not very happy about it...and there's a certain temptation to say I told you so."

Gibbs smiled back. "I don't blame you."

"But I'm not resentful...since I need the vacation, now. I don't want to antagonize you." He laughed for a few seconds.

Then, Tim's expression changed.

"Boss?"

"What?"

"While I was out there...I had some...time on my hands. I didn't dare travel at night. It was hard to sleep. I woke up a lot. I had to listen for people coming. It was so cold. One morning, I woke up with a bear in my face. Thankfully, the bush was enough to keep him from checking me out more closely. But then, I had time. Do... Do you think I've made a mistake?"

"In what?"

"In...what I've chosen to do with my life."

"Why ask me?"

"Because...so much of my life has revolved around my job, but I gave up the chance I had to get higher than I am."

"You don't have to assume it's the only chance you'll get," Gibbs said. He wondered where Tim was going with this.

"But that choice is, indirectly, what led me here. I would be in Japan. I wouldn't have met Delilah. Those are just the big things. I don't know what else would have changed. What if..."

"Tim...why are you worrying about this now?"

Tim looked away from Gibbs and then back.

"Am I...all that I could be? Should I be more than I am?"

Gibbs still wasn't sure he understood why Tim was focusing on this right now.

"What's this about, Tim?"

"What kind of life should I have?"

"The life you want."

"But is that what I should be doing? Should I be doing something more?"

"What more are you thinking?"

"I don't know. I just... I started thinking. When I started at NCIS, I had this plan for my life, and...most of it hasn't happened. I don't know, Boss. I just..."

"Tim, are you happy with how your life is right now?" Gibbs asked. "Do you like where you are? ...Not, do you think you _should_ want more. Are you happy?"

Tim smiled weakly. "Right this moment?"

Gibbs chuckled. "No. In general."

Tim was quiet for a long while.

"Yes."

"Then, don't worry about what you _should_ be doing. If you're happy, that's what matters."

Tim nodded.

"And you're not a murderer, Tim."

Tim looked at him with surprise...and his smile became rueful.

"Brady...the last one I killed. I had the gun and was pointing it at him. He tried to get me to put it down because he said it was empty. He was trying to psych me out. It didn't work. I pulled the trigger. Figured I had nothing to lose by trying. And he'd lied. There were bullets. That felt...a lot more like...murder than the others. The others...I was moving so quickly. I didn't have time to think. I just did it. With Brady...I did. Too much time."

Gibbs sighed a little.

"Tim, you always have too much time to think."

Tim laughed.

"I know."

"He would have killed you?"

"Yes."

"Then, it's not murder. It's self-defense...no matter how much time you had to think."

Tim leaned back on the chair.

"I don't feel very relaxed, Boss."

"I'm not surprised."

Tim moved his injured leg a little and winced. Gibbs made a decision about how things should go.

"Okay, Tim. You and Delilah figure out how long she's going to be here, and you take that time for a real vacation. Then, when you get back to DC, we'll talk about getting you back to work. Not until then."

"What about...the bodies?"

"They'll find them...or what's left of them. The rangers contacted the FBI and they're going to investigate the end of the Thorofare trail. They may need to talk to you about it."

Tim nodded.

"Otherwise, relax."

"I'll try."

"And, Tim?"

"Yeah?"

"Talk to someone about this. I can't force you because it's not part of the job, but talk to someone."

Tim took a breath and then, he nodded.

"Yeah, Boss."

"Good. We'll drive you to West Yellowstone."

"Thanks."

Gibbs nodded and stood up. He started for the door.

"Boss?"

Gibbs turned around.

"Yeah?"

"Could you...do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

Tim finally gave a real smile and Gibbs was relieved to see a hint of mischief in his eyes. He still looked tired and worn, but there was more now. More of how Tim _should_ have been on vacation.

"What?"

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Tim, we don't have to do this, right now," Delilah said a couple of hours later.

"I can't drive, right now, and neither can you. It'll be a lot easier with Gibbs taking us," Tim said. "You can't miss it now that you're here! Who knows when we'll get out here again!"

"We're here," Gibbs said as he pulled into a parking space.

"But, Tim, you're still barely getting around," Delilah said. "I know you didn't want to move any more than necessary...and you shouldn't."

"I can make it. You have to see it...and I want to be there, too," Tim said, making sure he sounded determined, not exhausted.

Tim eased himself to the door and opened it. Clumsily, he got the crutches and got to his feet. He _was_ tired, and he had very little energy, but he couldn't pass up this opportunity. Delilah was much more graceful as she got into her chair, but then, she'd had a lot more experience with her disability than Tim was having with his injury. She rolled around to the ramp and then paused and waited.

"I'm slower, but we should have time," Tim said.

Delilah was ahead because she could move more quickly than Tim, but they kept going. Then, they got to a bench with a great view. Tim sat down, breathing heavily.

"You'd think I'd never gone walking before. I feel like an old man."

"You've already done enough walking to last a lifetime, Tim," Delilah said. "Relax."

Tim took a deep breath.

People started to gather.

"I hope this isn't disappointing," Tim said.

"It won't be."

"Some of them are. Not all of them are big. This one could wimp out. Knowing my luck..."

"It won't," Delilah said.

They waited. And waited. Tim started to worry.

Then, they saw the first tentative signs.

Old Faithful began erupting. The boiling hot water shot up into the air, higher and higher. Tim smiled as he saw it. It was easily as high as he'd seen it a week ago. It kept going up and then, after about a minute, it began to subside. People all around were cheering and clapping. Tim just watched the geyser. Then, almost afraid that she'd be disappointed, he looked at Delilah.

"Worth seeing?" he asked.

She smiled.

"Absolutely."

"So...your next real vacation, we can come here...when I'm not an invalid?"

"Of course!"

Old Faithful's eruption ended and they waited for the majority of the crowds to disperse before heading to the car. Gibbs helped Tim get back in and then, they headed for West Yellowstone to find a hotel room for a few days.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim and Delilah ended up staying in West Yellowstone for three days before Delilah knew she had to get back to Dubai. She made the arrangements and Tim got his flight back to DC figured out. Because of how difficult it would be to get around, they both just stayed in. Tim actually spent more time sleeping than anything else, and Delilah didn't begrudge him that. Otherwise, they lay on the bed together and watched TV, Tim moving as little as possible. It wasn't the most exciting vacation ever, but Tim did get to relax a bit.

The rangers found the mangled bodies of the men Tim had killed and brought them back. The FBI came and interviewed Tim about what had happened. It turned out that the men were all wanted for smuggling; so it was much more likely that Tim's version of events was correct. He gave them his contact information and was very open about everything. They made arrangements for him to have a follow-up interview back in DC after they concluded their investigation.

Some local journalists also came to interview him about his time missing and his so-called adventures. He made sure to talk about the hikers who had helped him back, giving their names and what little he knew about them. He told the journalists that they _had_ to mention that he considered the hikers his heroes for helping him walking three miles and changing all their plans.

There were a couple of interviews, but then, they could lay around for a while longer.

Then, it was time for the trip to be over. Tim and Delilah went to the airport together and said good-bye there, promising to call and talk as soon as Delilah got back to Dubai (since her trip would take longer than Tim's).

Tim went home, finally. Tony gave him a ride to his apartment and helped him get everything arranged as painlessly as possible.

Then...Tim went to bed and slept.

* * *

><p>AN: I forgot that I had a short epilogue for this story! It's not over quite yet! Don't stop reading! :)


	10. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_One week later..._

Tim sat alone in his apartment.

He wasn't sure how he felt at this point. He'd lucked out and avoided giardia, something he was very grateful for. His ankle still hurt quite a bit, but he had some stronger versions over OTC painkillers and they were pretty good at helping him manage that pain. His doctor said that he'd aggravated the sprain quite a bit since he'd had to walk on it for so long and it would take proportionately longer for it to heal, but once he started his rehab, they'd have a better sense of how long it might take. None of that was unexpected. He could handle that, although he'd be glad when his ankle was hurting less.

No, that was unpleasant but he could handle it.

Overall, he was still bothered by what he'd had to do. ...and it _was_ a case of being forced to do it. He really hadn't had any other option. Because he hadn't had backup. He'd been completely on his own, forced to face those men without any hope of help from anyone. His mind kept going back to it at odd moments.

Gibbs had made sure that Tim went through the process for having some therapy. He said that he'd let Tim manage it as he wanted...as long as he did it and didn't avoid it. Tim knew he needed it.

Now, it was just recovery...and he was still thinking about what had got into his mind. How much more should he be doing with his life? He hadn't mentioned it to Delilah and he hadn't brought it up again to Gibbs, but it was still on his mind. Was it just something that he was thinking about to avoid the more disturbing things or was it something that really deserved consideration?

He got his crutches and made his way over to the window. He looked up at the sky and found that he was actually a little disappointed. He knew the city lights would drown out a lot of the stars, but in comparison to that perfect night sky in Yellowstone...

He laughed a little.

"Figures that I'd suddenly find something positive about that," he said to himself.

But it was true. He'd never seen the stars like that. He'd never seen a sky like that before. It was something that he wondered if he'd ever see again. It was a world away, in the back country of Yellowstone.

Tim crutched back to his bed and sat down. Then, he lay back and stared at the ceiling

...and he started to smile as a thought came into his mind. An idea that he wouldn't be able to implement for a while, but that would give him time to plan.

Why should he assume he'd never get to a place like that again?

There was no reason at all.

He'd managed all on his own in terrible circumstances. Why shouldn't he be able to manage when he planned it?

The smile widened and he felt better than he had since his unplanned trip. He'd never been big into camping, but why couldn't that change? Why couldn't he try for something more?

"I'll see that sky again," he said aloud.

Would that be enough for him, enough to get rid of that feeling of needing to do more? Tim wasn't sure.

...but he was interested in finding out.

FINIS!


End file.
